Trading Places
by Silver Ame Tsukino
Summary: It was an accident, Harry should have known his luck would result in this. Now, he found himself back in his 15 year old body at the Dursley residence. Can the Unspeakable that started this trouble, help them get back to their timeline? Or are they going to change the past for the better? Slight Dumbledore bashing. Slight Ginny, Ron and Hermione bashing. Harry/OC, Nev/Luna
1. Chapter 1

Trading Places

Summary: It was an accident, Harry should have known his luck would result in this. Now, he found himself back in his 15 year old body at the Dursley residence. Can the Unspeakable that started this trouble, help them get back to their timeline? Or are they going to change the past for the better? Slight Dumbledore bashing. Slight Ginny, Ron and Hermione bashing. Harry/OC, Nev/Luna

 _ **A/N: This starts off a few months after the Battle of Hogwarts. There's hints of**_ _Harry Potter and the Cursed Child_ _ **, but if you haven't read/seen it…it's all good. I'm literally writing this by including the important scenes as they flow through me. So, this particular chapter takes place over a month and a half. That's me assuming Hogwarts lets out early June. So, please enjoy it and take it for the dribble it started out as.**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Primark or any other things you recognize (aside from Leila).

Chapter 1

Harry supposed he should have guessed something was off when he was volun-told to assist a new Unspeakable. The Man-Who-Conquered was enrolled in the fast track Auror program. He had insisted on being treated like everyone else, but the new Minister heard none of it. Even now, he found himself unveiling more hidden truths about his life as he got to look into his family. The Potter Family vault had been almost completely siphoned off by Dumbledore after Sirius' death. Only a few things remained. The gold in his trust vault was also noticeably smaller after the dowery to the Weasley Family for Ginny per Dumbledore's marriage contract.

His fiancée had known all along and was taking the time to play for the Harpies before their wedding in a few months. "Cricket?" A shorter member of the Unspeakable team moved around the rune room, seemingly unaware of his presence. Harry ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't happy with his lot in life, but he couldn't change the past. He was lucky the goblins had allowed him into the bank after they broke into a vault and escaped.

The Unspeakable finally turned around in surprised. "Auror Potter!" The voice was disguised by the magic in the cloak worn by Unspeakables.

"Not yet, just a trainee. However, I was sent to help with your project."

The Unspeakable nodded, "I wasn't sure if my request was considered insane at this busy time."

Harry agreed, though with his free time he found out more things hidden from him. Like the Potter Lordship that was his to claim since he was eleven. Or the fact that the Black Lordship was his since he was sixteen. "Well, everyone else decided they didn't want to be a test subject and today was the one day I was late to the pit. What are we working on?"

Cricket shrugged as if his words weren't relevant. They probably weren't to the shorter wizard. "You'll need to swear an oath first and then we'll get started."

Harry supposed it could be worse, he could be working with Croaker again. He had clearly been fascinated in the faded scar that used to house Voldemort's horcrux. It was kept as a highly classified secret and only his friends and a select few Ministry workers knew. The number was in the single digits. Croaker had been more friendly, but definitely too excited to experiment on him. Harry just didn't want anyone to find out how to make those vile things. The oath was quick and a standard vow with the threat of erasing memories or loss of magic. Which ever magic thought was appropriate. His green eyes noticed the dainty female wrist and slim fingers wrapped around the dark wand handle.

"Cricket?"

The Unspeakable nodded before pulling her hood back with her free hand. Harry looked at the brown skinned woman with almond shaped hazel eyes. Her brown hair was pulled back into a messy bun that didn't like dissimilar to Hermione's own buns. "Call me Leila in private. I hate that code name. However, since I'm so short and thin, Croaker thought he was being hilarious." Her full lips were in a tiny frown. Harry noticed immediately that she looked familiar. "We went to Hogwarts together. I was a Ravenclaw, a year under you."

"Then you knew-"

"Luna Lovegood, yes." The witch shrugged. "unfortunately, our housemates treated her terribly and we couldn't do much about it except help her in small ways when we got older."

Harry nodded, "How did you…?"

"You became friends with her in our fourth year. You helped her find her belongings at the end of the year for the next two years. I used to summon them as best I could the two years prior and my first year I paid a Slytherin student to do it. Luna used to talk to me about you. She stopped when she realized…anyway none of that is important."

"You dated that Slytherin bloke in my year, Nott?" Harry added, he could remember seeing her waiting after classes for Nott some days. Other days, the Slytherin would leave Malfoy and his gang to go to a different floor. They would also be in the Three Broomsticks together during Hogsmeade weekends.

Leila nodded, "We worked together on this project." She gestured to the notes. "However, he became rather obsessed with a certain rune set and when the Malfoy family offered to privately fund him, he left here." She shrugged and turned to the notes. "We were working on a way to possibly travel through time. I had a theory that it is easier to send memories back, possibly the human soul. He believed you could physically travel back further. He's working on a time turner to do just that, it's dangerous. Everything points to it lasting for only a few minutes the further back you went."

"Time turners go back only a day at most."

Leila nodded, "If he does work out the math and runes, he might be able to go back further than that. There's always a draw back to that kind of magic. He didn't want to listen…"

"What about your relationship?" Harry asked gently. He didn't have a personal interest, but Nott had run off to pursue some radical idea without the tiny woman.

"Daphne Greengrass is also supporting his idea, _a lot_ better than some know it all Ravenclaw that sided with the light side." There was a hint of bitterness in her words, but the witch didn't meet his eyes as she started flipping through her notes. "Although, I don't imagine you have much interest in that. You're getting married soon, that's exciting."

Harry nodded, "I suppose."

"You don't sound super excited about it." Leila finally looked up. Harry was surprised to see she had unshed tears in her eyes.

"It wasn't exactly something I had a choice in." Harry admitted. "There's a lot of things I didn't have a choice in over the years." He ran a hand through his hair. "It's funny, there's so much I would like to do differently if I could. If I had even _half_ the knowledge that I do now…"

Leila tilted her head, "Perhaps it wasn't a fluke that you were late to work today." She gestured to the center of the room and they sat down in silence. "Auror Potter, this is your role in this room for now until the Full Moon in a weeks time…" Her voice took on a more detached tone as she explained what they were doing. Harry wasn't sure if she actually need an Auror, but he could understand her desire to be working someone that was supposedly skilled enough to defuse high volumes of magic.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Harry found the week had flown by quickly. He would spend a few hours doing actual combat simulation and learning more about the laws they enforced, before returning to his temporary assignment in the Department of Mysterious. Cricket, or Leila as she preferred, was always drawing more runes carefully on to the floor of the room they were in. Harry thought it all looked extremely complicated and while he wished he could tell Hermione about it, he was relieved he couldn't. She had taken off with Ron to retrieve her parents and Harry hadn't felt left out. He was happy to have some distance and time to himself.

Hermione had been pushing for his relationship with Ginny. However, she quickly focused on her parents after the last of the funerals.

Leila had listened to him when he decided to talk about his troubled new road in life. She didn't seem to judge him when he told her that most of the Potter fortune had been stolen while he was fifteen. She didn't look surprised to hear that the Potter patent on Sleezy Sleak Hair Potion had been sold before his sixteenth birthday. The witch listened patiently as she drew the runes. Harry had started to help her paint as well.

The rune set she was constructing would cover the entirety of the room floor and part of the wall when they were done. Certain parts she had informed him had to be done in a certain order as they got closer to the full moon. He carefully constructed the symbols before him as he spoke to her. Harry never understood why, but she had listened and not judged. She had offered minor solutions, but she had no solutions to the bigger problems facing him. He couldn't undo the past. Despite her work, she had no idea if her runes would work. For all she knew, she could create something similar to the veil of death.

Harry didn't seem to notice how nervous she got the closer to finishing her runes. If he had noticed, he hadn't said anything to her about it. He had talked most of the week about himself. Leila was under the impression he didn't do it often. However, the more he talked the more she realized fate had bought them together for a reason. It was surprising to learn that the Potter fortune had been decimated by their deceased Headmaster. That the Weasley Family had actively hid Harry's duties from him as well, it was insane.

"This is the last rune." Leila informed him as she stopped at the last space on the floor. Harry nodded as he pulled out his wand. "I can't believe I'm going to try this."

Harry gave her a crooked grin, "You've listened to me vent for several days. I'm pretty sure you can do anything after that."

Leila laughed before turning to the empty space and drawing the time rune with a time stamp. It was just supposed to be a test. Taking a deep breath, Leila chanted a phrase in latin as her brush filled in the last time rune. Her hair whipped around her as she felt the magic pressure build in the air. "Harry!"

The Auror trainee tried to grab the witch, and run out of the room. However, magic was quicker than either of them. Harry's green eyes widen as he looked into fear filled hazel eyes. A crack of magic and neither of them felt any pressure any more. They landed hard.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Harry woke up with a groan. The surface he was laying on was uncomfortable. And his head felt like Buckbeak had walked on it a few times. Rubbing his head, he sat up. What was the last thing he remembered? He had just gotten home from Hogwarts, Voldemort had been resurrected. Cedric was _dea_ -…no that wasn't right. Cedric had been dead for several years now. He had defeated Voldemort after destroying his Horcruxes, right?

He hooked his head under his arms and tried to focus. He started organizing his mind. He hadn't master Occumlency, but he knew the basic theory. He didn't understand how he had two different set of memories. He was an Auror in training working with an Unspeakable on a dangerous time related rune…and yet he had just completed his fourth year at Hogwarts. If he had completed only fourth year, how did he know what Occumlency was?"

Why did he consider himself an Auror in training? Sirius wasn't dead, was he? He was alive. He had been writing him over the summer. "It worked." He whispered to himself "Of course it did, Harry _bloody_ Potter was involved." He bit out bitterly. If he had his older memories, than why did he still feel odd.

Deciding to see if he was really at the Dursleys again, Harry squinted trying to make out the dark room. He reached over and grabbed his thick rimmed glasses. He pushed the frame on to his face. The room cleared up a bit, he could make out the outlines. He really needed to get new glasses. He was definitely in his old room at Privet Drive. The blurry red numbers on the clock clearly indicted that it was 4:30 in the morning.

Pulling the glasses off, Harry fell back on to his bed with a sigh. He could make out his uncle and cousin's chainsaw like snores through the thin walls. How long would he be trapped in 1995? Was he even trapped? Did he just send his memories back? Leila said her goal was to send the memories and ultimately the soul back. Harry rubbed his face and closed his eyes.

Had they accidentally sent their soul _and_ memories back?

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Two days had gone by and Harry was certain of a few things. The magic didn't send his soul back to the future. In fact, his soul and magic core were merging with his fifteen year old self. Okay, he knew his magic was merging because he had random bouts of accidental magic when he felt any emotion too strongly. He wasn't sure how long until the merging completed. He could only assume his soul had merged much quicker.

He didn't have to argue with a younger version of himself. Voldemort's soul was clearly located in his head again. Harry had taken the time to rebuild his mental defenses which was hard to do with the soul bit around. However, the fact he had been doing the chores around the house gave him time to focus on developing his defenses around the soul. Voldemort probably still could break through them if he focused. However, as long as he didn't know about the connection, Harry could use it to his advantage.

Harry had decided to defeat Voldemort quickly and quietly. There would be no battle on Hogwarts grounds. His godfather wouldn't die. Remus and Tonks would be able to get together and raise Teddy.

He had left Teddy alone with Andromeda. The older woman was slowly losing her mind after the close loss of her daughter and husband. If he was lucky, he would change the future. Teddy would have parents and _he_ wouldn't be going through an arranged marriage. The Potter fortune would actually continue to grow without the Headmaster's interference.

"Boy!" His Uncle barked as he went through the morning post. He shoved an envelope towards the skinny wizard. "Someone sent you post."

Petunia peered over her grapefruit slice at the letter. "At least it doesn't look abnormal." She huffed. The brunette woman rolled her eyes, "At least you taught your kind how to be normal."

His relatives looked at him expectantly. Harry really considered running away again. He _was_ an adult, even if physically they didn't think so. Even then, he knew he was legally an adult because of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Then again, he was dressed in his cousin's oversized clothes because he had never gotten a better wardrobe. He also needed to make sure no duplicate keys were active for his vaults. Taking the envelope, Harry opened the letter. It was signed _Cricket_ , but asked for a chance to meet up with him.

That cemented the theory that _they_ had landed in the same timeline. He had considered sending Hedwig to her, but he didn't know where she lived and if she had gone back like he had. Leila had been closer to the center than he had, her ritual could have sent her further back. "I'll be going out after finishing my chores." His Aunt and Uncle narrowed their eyes at him.

"No funny business and we aren't giving you any money."

"Yes, sir." Now that Harry thought about it, the Order was keeping watch on his house this summer. It was Fletcher leaving his post that caused him to deal with Dementors on his own. Walking back into the kitchen to clean up, Harry smirked. Having the knowledge of an Auror in training, there was no way he was going to allow the Ministry, or anyone, to think he needed Dumbledore to defend him.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

It had been a bit of a walk, but Harry reached the small restaurant that rested at the edge of his neighborhood. It was a bland white building, with a small parking lot and an almost full bike rack. There was a neon sign that blinked, indicating the shop was open. The first time around, Harry had never ventured this far from his neighborhood. He would see the shop on occasion when his relatives drove with him somewhere.

The summer was hotter than he remembered, he would have to take the Knight Bus the next time. He at least was walking without an invisibility cloak, though if the person was competent they probably had a cooling charm on. Harry wiped at his forehead before he walked into the air conditioned establishment. "Welcome!" A foreign accent greeted him. His green eyes looked at the older woman with dark skin and really curly hair. She smiled at him.

"Hello." She had caught him off guard. "I'm supposed to meet a friend here."

The woman nodded with a smile. "Did you want to check to see if they're here? If not, I'll set you up with a table and a menu."

"That sounds good, thank you."

Thankfully, he spotted Leila after passing one of the booths. The other teen wore a dark blue blouse with her hair swept up into her usual ponytail. Harry noted she looked obviously younger and less...stressed. Though, her body (like his) hadn't gone through a year under Voldemort's rule. "Leila, hi."

The witch sat her book down and looked at him. "Hello, Harry." Her eyes looked over his clothing without judgement. "How are you this summer?"

"Thank you." Harry turned to the waitress as he sat down across from Leila. The waitress smiled at them.

"I'll bring another water over and let me know when you're ready to order."

Leila smiled at the woman and after she disappeared turned to Harry. "Are you in any pain?"

"No." He studied her. She had been a gorgeous face hidden beneath a cloak before they got close enough for her to remove the hood completely. "I am tempted to runaway though." He said it low enough for her to hear, but no one else could over the ambience of the restaurant. "How are you?"

The Unspeakable sighed, "I don't remember the details of this year that well. However, the amount of letters stacking in my room means I've been writing Theodore."

"Oh," Harry wasn't sure what to say. He had letters from his friends and Sirius. Having future knowledge, he knew they were at the Order Headquarters. And one of the Horcruxes was in that house. He could turn Kreacher into his elf again by helping fulfill Regulus' last order. "My godfather is alive."

"We shouldn't meddle in time. Even _this_ is pushing it." She warned him softly. "we could be yanked back to the future at anytime."

Harry looked at the menu in front of him and sighed as he sat it down. He didn't have any muggle money. He never felt the need to carry it since he only went out in the wizarding world. His stomach rumbled quietly, betraying him. Leila chuckled quietly. "I don't have any money on me."

"Order anyway. My treat this time. I did call you here and you look like you walked all the way here."

He blushed, but looked at the menu again. "I'll pay you back."

Leila glanced at her menu. "Harry."

"Yes?" He asked squinting at the type font. He ran a finger over the worn laminated paper. His green eyes went from the menu to the teen across from him.

"If we could change things for the better...do we risk obsoleting the information we know?"

Harry leaned back. He had contemplated if he should change the past the last few days. He had the knowledge needed to defeat Voldemort and make the alliances he had failed to cultivate at Hogwarts. He still had his wealth and his Lordship ring waited for him at Gringotts. "I want to, I want to save as many lives as possible."

"We could make things worse."

"Well...that's the flip side. We will never know unless we try."

Leila sighed and looked at him with a frown. "Harry, meddling in time is forbidden." There was no conviction in her voice. "We might be stuck in the past. We might never make it back to 1998."

"Unless we grow up again. Fight again." He paused and waved the waitress down. The same woman as before appeared. She smiled at them. He ordered a plate of meatloaf with mash potatoes, gravy and green beans. Leila ordered chicken tenders and chips. The brunette haired woman, took their menus before leaving with their orders.

The Ravenclaw looked at her glass of water annoyed. She admitted the truth of the situation- they could be stuck or they might be sent back to their bodies in the future. Without any of her father's equipment to measure magical talent, she didn't know if their magical cores were merging with their younger selves. Leila's best hypothesis is that they were stuck and their cores were merging, their minds had repressed or replaced their younger selves.

"Cricket." His voice broke through her mental wall. "Let's change some small things."

The Unspeakable nodded before taking a sip of her water. "What about your vault?" The Potter money came to mind when she saw the baggy and worn clothes on Harry. His glasses weren't taped together, but she noticed he had squinted at the menu. Everything about him needed to be cleaned up. It was small enough to start with and she didn't mind volunteering to be the go between him and the bank.

"What about it?" He asked. His mind was on the Horcruxes and their current locations. "I wonder if I could absorb Bellatrix's vault into the family one by dissolving her marriage."

"You would have to be Head of the Black Family _and_ have a reason that breaks the clauses of her marriage documents." Leila reached into the bag beside her. "What about your clothes and glasses?"

"What about them? I can't walk into Diagon Alley to get new ones or money."

Leila chuckled, "I could withdraw money, convert it and we can shop in London."

Harry looked at the witch that had listened to him for a week straight vent about his life. She was asking for access to his vault. A thing he had without thought trusted the adults around him to take care of. What did he lose from allowing her to help? If the timeline stayed the same, he wouldn't have a fortune to worry about, if Dumbledore meddled. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the key and slid it to her. "I trust you know how much I would need for this."

"I'll see about a copy of the ledger. Just so you have a record of what I withdraw for you." Leila informed him as she picked up the key and slid it into her bag. "I will go tomorrow and I'll...owl you?" The last part sounded hesitant.

Harry nodded, "Unless you have a house elf." He paused and glanced around them. "We're breaking the statue of secrecy."

"I wondered when you would ask, we aren't. I've been using this," The Unspeakable showed a coin shaped metal. "It's engraved with a muffling rune." Her hazel eyes looked down at the coin. "I carved it carefully and so I know it's working based on the few test runs I've done this week."

Harry chuckled, "I should stop underestimating you."

"This wasn't hard." The Ravenclaw mumbled. She seemed to shrink into herself, worried. "We could make a list of things we need to accomplish before September."

The Man Who Conquered nodded solemnly. They both looked up as the waitress returned with their food. The meeting between them had been somewhat productive. If nothing else, they checked each other's wellbeing and decided to make the most of their situation. Having a dedicated list of things to accomplish meant that they could plan out their summer. Lists were normally Hermione's thing, but he wasn't surprised Leila wanted to do the same thing. It seemed to be the best way to stay organized.

"Want a chip?" She asked unexpectedly as she tore her tenders into pieces. She indicated the basket with chips and vinegar on the side.

Harry blinked surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I have a small appetite right now." She admitted with a frown.

Harry took the offered chip and leaned back. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his bank key. If nothing else, the two of them were stuck with each other.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Leila smiled as she meet up with Harry. They were outside the diner not far from Privet Drive. The Man-Who-Conquered wore the blue jeans and black shirt that surprisingly fit his frame. A house elf had bought over the clothes, along with a note from the witch. She had successfully withdrawn and converted money from his account. And she had gotten a ledger of his accounts. The goblins had been sticklers for that particular bit of information, but the witch allowed them to use enchanted parchment that only opened with blood.

Harry had been amused watching his Aunt take in his thin frame. He had years of malnourishment to overcome, but Hogwarts had helped him reach a normal body index for his height. He had been underweight before this misadventure into the past. With clothes that fit him, it became obvious that he had missed meals compared to his cousin. The messy haired teen, greeted Leila with a tired smile.

The witch shoved her hands into her short pockets. "I figured we could use the bus to get to London today. It's the fastest way." Going into her bag that was on her hip, she pulled out a baseball cap and clip on lens. "Wear these until we get to London."

Harry put the baseball cap on and then allowed Leila to attached the clip on shades to his glasses. "Where are we catching the bus from?" She adjusted the cap to make sure his scar was covered.

Shrugging, Leila gestured to the why he had come from, "is there a spot around there?"

"Knight Bus?"

"Yup."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Before that day, Harry could honestly say he had never been inside a Primark. His relatives wouldn't shop in such a bargain place and he barely knew about its existence. However, he enjoyed browsing the shop. It was the most normal thing he had done in a while. Leila had walked him over to the men's section, and left to check out the women's department. "You're an adult. I expect you can shop for yourself. If you need me, I'll be downstairs though."

Harry was glad she had left him to pick out his own clothes, it made him feel independent. And even now, a few days later, she was with him. He wasn't sure what his guards reported to the Order, but so far no one hadn't said anything about him going out so often to see Leila. Then again, his godfather couldn't tell him off for having a normal summer. His Headmaster was supposed to only contact him about school things. And his _best_ _friends_ weren't supposed to know anything that wasn't mentioned in his letters. Which he purposely kept short and to the point. His godfather was not amused by the lack of information, but only said something once.

Harry supposed it helped that she visited Surrey so often. He once asked her about it and she informed him that her parents were separated. Her father worked a lot and she often spent her summers as a teen alone, working part time in shops. This time, she just used her allowance to travel between London and Surrey via the Knight Bus. The trips weren't expensive and her family wasn't hurting for money in particular. Her mother lived in the United States.

"Thank you for coming here again." The words tumbled out as he tore into the sandwich she had packed with her. It was a neatly made ham and cheese with the works on it. She had even packed bags of crisps and bowls of fruit for them.

Leila smiled softly, as she ate her own lunch. Harry was an innocent individual in so many ways. The witch found that spending time with him, well it was fun. The Man Who Conquered was definitely the most supportive friend anyone could have in their corner. He was also a gentle soul that needed a little guidance to see the world around him. They knew that there was a Dark Lord to defeat. However, Leila deterred him from going after any of the Horcruxes just yet. She just wanted him to get his life together outside of the Dark Lord area. They had the upper hand over You-Know-Who, but they needed to keep the robbery of the Potter Fortune from happening.

And if Leila was honest with herself, she wanted to make sure that the marriage contract was never signed. "There's one working swing and that's mine after we eat." They sat in the park with the broken swing set (except one). There were little kids around playing on the slides unattended.

"I'm surprised Dudders left it intact. Then again, that's as high as he can count most days."

Leila chuckled as she picked up a grape. "You said he was in a gang?"

"At this age, him and his little friends all terrorize the kids in the neighborhood."

"You sound wistful."

Harry shrugged as he took a swig of water. "He changed after the dementor attack, became a better person somewhat. I told him if he ever had a magical child to contact me."

"We still have time then." Leila reminded him as she packed the remains of her food into the bag she bought with her. "I want to swing before it starts raining."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"Remember my last?" Leila quoted as she rested her head in Harry's lap. They sat on the floor of her, otherwise, empty living room. After the dementor attack earlier that day, they had been herded to Number Four by Mrs. Figg. The older woman revealed herself to be a squib working for Dumbledore. She advised Leila to head home and stay away from Harry. The strange cat woman hobbled her way back to her home a street over.

The Dursleys had panicked at Dudley's pale and unresponsive form being carried by them. Aunt Petunia had burst into tears while holding Dudley. Vernon looked ready to throttle Harry after Dudley merely pointed to Harry as an answer to his mother's frantic whispers. Harry slid his wand out and explained what happened. His Aunt cried harder as she described what she remembered of dementors. The fact Harry had saved Dudley didn't endear him to his relatives. His Uncle told him to leave. Leila had remained in the shadows, but watched as a serious of letters were dropped off in the confusion. One declaring expulsion, another a trial and possible expulsion and finally a letter from Mr. Weasley that clearly explained nothing, except Dumbledore interfered.

Vernon's temper boiled over, but Leila aimed her wand at the large man. She stepped out of the shadows and made it clear there would be no more yelling at Harry. Leila had summoned her house elf, which followed Harry to his room and sent his belongings to her home. The elf then disappeared with the two of them. The Dursleys pale faces and Petunia's howler being the last thing they heard.

"I think he meant the last letter he wrote her." Harry answered after sometime. He ran his fingers through her hair. "You having that chocolate helped." Leila had pulled chocolate out of her bag after getting the Dursleys sorted. The chocolate revived Dudley to a more coherent state. Harry and herself were also better.

Leila closed her eyes as she laid on the carpeted floor. Harry leaned against the sofa. "You said dementors attacked you this summer. I carried it around since then."

"I definitely didn't do this last time." He commented after closing his eyes. "What about your dad?"

"We can use the confusion from you leaving to visit Gringotts. Once we get in you can claim your Lordship and remove the Headmaster's access to your accounts. I imagine the Potter Family had more than the property in Godric's Hallow." A calming silence fall between them. "We'll deal with my dad when he appears."

"I want to see them again." Harry whispered. "I want to visit them often and take care of their graves. I also, want to go after his horcruxes before Hogwarts starts."

Leila turned around and looked at him. Her hazel eyes met his green ones. She pushed herself off of his lap. Their faces were dangerously close. "We can do that." She whispered back.

"I may have to go to the Black Manor at some point this summer." Hazel eyes shifted to the side as Leila pulled away. Harry grabbed her hand. "We are still in this together."

"Of course."

Harry's eyes drifted to her full lips, before he leaned forward and kissed her. Leila leaned forward and surprised herself by returning the kiss. She pulled away, only to lean forward pressing a kiss to his lips. They exchanged more hurried kisses as they found warmth in each other.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"You know, I forgot that I needed basilisk poison or fiendfyre to destroy these things." Harry informed Leila a few days later. "However, I am curious about why we don't feel tempted to put this ring on."

Leila shrugged, as she looked around the rundown shack. "You spoke Parseltongue earlier, maybe you disabled some defense?"

"The ring should be like the locket and diary, we should feel compelled to wear or use it." He hadn't told her that the stone was an actual Deathly Hallow. "It was cursed and the spell was killing Dumbledore back in my sixth year."

The Unspeakable looked at the ring nestled in a box underneath a floor board. "It could require us to touch it." The gold ring glimmered in the darkness surrounding it. She kneeled next to the hole, but didn't dare touch it. "I can probably use fiendfyre, it will burn this whole shack to the ground without the proper runes in place."

"I wonder if the curse only happens if you wear the ring."

"I only know the basic detection spells." Leila informed him as she pulled out a dark, cherry wood wand. The witch didn't get to cast a spell as Harry pulled out dragonhide gloves.

"These are resistant to most spells. We only need to get the ring into this box." Harry pointed to a wooden box with runes around it. Leila had taken the time to carve them while Harry was Gringotts taking the Potter Lordship. Andromeda Tonks had received notification that she was named acting Regent for the Potter Family. The woman hadn't responded to the letter to decline the position. Harry had written a personal letter, letting her know that she was a distant cousin that he trusted with his political interest. He made it clear that he wanted her to make moves to teardown the pureblood hierarchy.

Harry had returned from the bank with a bag of goodies that he hadn't shared with her yet. The dragonhide gloves had come out of that bag. Leila hadn't minded not knowing what was in the bag, she was determined to continue experimenting with runes. "Be careful." She whispered as she leaned out of the way. The darkness hid snakes that attempted to bit Harry's arm. The gloves protected him, breaking their fangs off. Through the glove, he could feel a distant pull. Leila knocked at his hand with the box causing him drop it in before shutting it. "You looked strange."

"Thank you."

Nodding, she reached into her bag and transfigured a rock into a replica. It would hold until someone, namely Dumbledore, came looking for it. "How are we going to..."

"Dobby!" The elf showed up with a quiet crack. He wore a clean pillowcase with the Potter crest. Leila had encouraged him to take the elf as his own. Hermione would throw a fit about it when she found out. The Ravenclaw informed him matter of factly that elves bonded with wizards because they had to share magic. "Take us home please."

"Yes great master harry potter sir!" The elf disappeared with the two of them.

Leila grunted when they landed in Potter Manor. It was significantly more secure than her family's apartment. However, it was somewhat big for just the two of them and their elves. It was three stories, had over six bedrooms, a basement and a small greenhouse out back. Dusting her jeans off, Leila looked over at Harry. He was focused on the box in his hands. "Harry." Approaching him, she covered the lid of the box with her hand, gently removing it from him. "Harry, let's get cleaned up and have tea. We can't continue looking for these if we don't have a way to destroy them."

The Gryffindor didn't respond as his eyes followed the box in her arms. The witch summoned her house elf. "What are you doing?"

"I'm having Miffy put this away until we've worked out a way to destroy it. You named two methods, realistically we need a secure place to use fiendfyre."

"The Black Family has an oven that can contain that type of fire."

Leila nodded to her elf, before turning to Harry. She placed a hand on her hip. "Are you turning yourself over to Dumbledore's group? They'll wonder how you know about the Black Family home. You didn't even know about your lordship until your 18th birthday." Hazel eyes narrowed at him, "besides, they wouldn't let you leave that property for anything, but the trial."

"I know." Harry acknowledged. His green eyes looked at the petite woman across from him. "It would be the locket and ring destroyed together."

"Can't we wait a little longer?"

Harry sighed, he had left the Dursleys six days ago. He spent the night with Leila, before heading to Gringotts at a ridiculously early hour. He had returned to Leila's apartment to a wrapped up breakfast and a working witch. He also had letters from his godfather and best friends wanting him to return to the Dursleys. They had demanded his whereabouts and begged him to return to the safety of the wards. Leila informed him flatly, that there was no chance those wards would keep the Dark Lord out completely. Harry had gone to the bank twice more in those six days before deciding to stay away from the Wizarding World. He had added Leila to his accounts and removed everyone else. Though, Andromeda still hadn't responded to the letter. Today, was day seven. "How about until two days before my birthday?"

He watched as Leila counted the number of days, it gave them less than a fortnight together.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Harry slid his arm tighter around Leila's slender frame. She curled up next to him and slept soundly. "You know...this feels really nice." He chuckled when she hummed softly. "I'm going to miss this, alot."

"Don't go." She whispered. He could hear how tired she was and pressed his body against hers. If anything, she relaxed even more. "We could handle everything."

He sighed as he looked at her. Her smooth brown skin looked blurry without his glasses, but that didn't mean he hadn't memorized her body. Pressing a kiss against her shoulder, he ran his fingers across her stomach. "Lei."

"I had to try." She whispered as she pulled away slightly.

Harry wasn't sure if their relationship was natural or because of the dementors. However, he did know that he enjoyed her presence. It was similar to Luna's friendship, but more intense. He knew at some point, he had acknowledged her attractiveness to his self. However, that first night after the dementors, he had been surprised when she returned those feelings. Neither of them acknowledged that their romance could be short lived. Harry hoped it wouldn't be, but when Theodore Nott would appear...he wondered would Leila still fall for him? Either way, he decided to make the most of their time together. They took turns cooking for each other. Leila used her house elf to get them near muggle attractions and they saw movies together, landmarks, Buckingham Palace. The witch also spent a large amount of time looking at runes, attempting to create something similar to the oven in Black Manor.

"I'll see you at the courthouse." Harry closed his eyes, "besides, we have to deal with school again."

A few hours later, the sun rose again. The light shined on them and Leila was the first to wake up. Harry had rolled on to his back and he looked peaceful sleeping in. Her hazel eyes drunk in the sight, she didn't know when Harry and herself would be this intimate again. She watched the raise and fall of chest before rolling over and starting to leave the bed. Harry still had to save the Wizarding World from its own stupidity. Leaving the bed, Leila removed her bonnet and walked towards the bathroom. She would start breakfast today. The house elves were both energetic and eager to help them, but every time either human made a meal the elves wonder if they were bad.

Harry smelled the treacle tart before he even left the bed. The smell slipped through the crack in the door that Leila had left. He never was one for following his stomach, but he got up and headed to the bathroom. Harry wondered down the stairs, shirtless and with just pajama pants. Leila's hair was swept into a bun and she wore a shirt that was larger than her frame, perhaps one of his? "Good morning." He greeted as he approached her from behind. She was cooking bacon and there was a pan of eggs as well. On the counter, was the treacle tart that he had smelled. Careful to not disturb her, he wondered over to his favorite dessert.

"Morning, leave it there mister. It's for later. When you go off to your prison sentence."

Chuckling, Harry leaned against the counter. "You are very dramatic now that I know you."

"Maybe. No one would believe you."

"Luna."

The two exchanged looks at the blond's name. "Do you think she...knows?"

"She's not a seer."

"We don't know that."

Leila had a point, the blond hadn't mentioned being a seer. However, she might not have thought it was relevant to what was going on around her. Even so, his goal was to make sure she didn't end up in Malfoy Manor. Harry looked at the small pile of bacon and took a slice. "You didn't have to cook."

The brown haired witch shrugged. "Before this summer, I spent years cooking for just myself. This has been nice."

"Not even with Nott?" It was irrational, but part of him felt excited to achieve another thing before the Slytherin.

"No, we never stayed together like this. And the rare nights we were together, house elves always served us." Leila started moving the plates without magic to the table. Harry moved to assist her. The treacle tart was wrapped up and left on the corner by her. "I cut some fruit up as well." The witch removed oranges, kiwi and strawberries from the refrigerator and sat it with the rest of the food. "I can pack that for you as well. Just keep it stored when you get in the house, I will cast a temporary cooling charm."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Where in Merlin's name have you been?" Molly Weasley cried out as Harry was guided into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. Alastor Moody had been part of the guard that met Harry at Kings Cross Station. It had been public and muggle filled, but Leila had suggested it as the safest place. He has passed the recommendation on to his godfather. Thinking of him, Harry felt the grim looking dog move past him and further into the room. That had been risky on Sirius' part, but Harry didn't say anything.

His godfather was alive.

Angry, judging by his expression...but alive.

The dog had shifted into his godfather's tall frame. The current (unclaimed) Lord Black had a dark look on his face. Harry was morbidly amused by it. It didn't help that a smirk had crossed his face as he pointedly ignored Mrs. Weasley. In the past, he would have tripped over himself to answer. "You find this funny." Sirius growled out. The other members of the Order, excluding Remus, shuffled into the basement kitchen. An angry Molly was one thing, however, Sirius was just as angry.

"Not in particular." Harry admitted as he reached into his pocket and pulled touched his shrunken trunk. "I merely gave out the same amount of information I received."

"Harry James Potter!" Molly started to scream out. The redhead woman's face was a dark shade of red.

Sirius' clinched his jaw. "Molly, he's _my_ godson. I can talk to him _without_ your help."

The raven haired wizard bit his tongue. He wanted to inform Ron's mother that she would wake up Mrs. Black. However, he wasn't supposed to know about the screaming portrait. Leila had warned him it would be hard to act like he didn't know certain things. Though, she had warned him that seeing Sirius would probably be the hardest thing for him. And, she hadn't been wrong, but the calming draught kept him from leaping at his godfather. The older man would never understand why his godson was hugging the daylights out of him.

Harry felt Remus' hand on his shoulder and looked towards the werewolf. Teddy would be born again. He might not be godfather, but that would be okay. He just needed his little godson to be around. He wanted to see the toddler with shocking violet hair that changed to match his godfather's dark locks when he wanted to be held. More importantly, he wanted to spare Andromeda the heart break of losing every member of her family in less than a year. "Hello, Remus."

At some point, in the future he had stopped calling the werewolf 'Professor.' At Kings' Cross, he had carefully greeted Moody and Remus. Harry felt the werewolf's grip tighten. "Where have you been Harry?" Unlike the other two adults surrounding him, Remus was calm. His tone was calculating. Amber colored eyes bore into Harry.

"Honestly, staying with a friend." Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure _how_ you all found out I had left, unless Ms. Figg told the Headmaster."

Sirius answered, "You were being protected by the other members of the Order." He sighed deeply as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "When you were attacked, we found out 20 minutes later. Of course, I punched Fletcher in the face for skivving off. We knew there was a chance you would be attacked, but the Ministry has been too busy being to useless to work with building a defense."

"You're telling him too much information!" Molly interrupted. "Harry, we were only looking out for your wellbeing. You're just a boy."

Harry looked at this woman trying to reconcile her with the witch that killed Bellatrix LeStrange. "No disrespect, but I haven't been _just a boy_ since my parents died. The illusion was nice while it lasted, but since my return to the Wizarding World there has been various attempts on my life." His green eyes scanned the entrance hall. He saw the ugly umbrella stand that Tonks always knocked over. Hermione, Ron and Ginny weren't anywhere to be seen. That didn't mean the Extendable Ears hadn't already gotten downstairs to listen. "This attack by dementors is no different. We'll see what happens, the Decree of Underage Witchcraft clearly states that _defensive_ magic is allowed in dire circumstances."

"Who is your friend?" Remus asked quietly. Harry appeared calmer than his letters to Sirius previously hinted at.

Harry studied Remus' shabby robes and the scars on his face. "Just a schoolmate."

"Harry." Remus glanced briefly at Sirius. Sirius Black and Molly both looked irritated at the lack of information. He wanted to ask more questions. He wanted Harry to offer better explanations.

/-/-/-/-/-

"Harry!" Hermione cried out as she wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, we heard about the attack and we all were terribly worried." The bushy haired witch admitted. She pulled away and looked at her best friend. Harry didn't look as angry as she expected. His green eyes looked older, calculating even.

"Hello Hermione." He greeted her quietly. He nodded at Ron and Ginny. He even looked at the twins. Fred and George grinned as they greeted him. Both had apparated downstairs with twin loud _cracks_ and pulled him away from the adults. "Everyone." The younger version of his friends immediately started filling him in on everything they knew. Harry was careful to ask certain questions, but otherwise _listened_. Ginny's warm brown eyes seemed to be examining him over and over.

If only she knew that the Headmaster had lied.

That would be a future problem for her. His current problem was to find a room that he could use without sharing with Ron. Not that he didn't like the redhead, but he needed to speak with Kreacher quietly. He caught a glimpse of the house elf. The mad creature had been roaming around upstairs, muttering under his breath about the filthy people defiling the house. Harry couldn't wait to change the little creature for the better.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Silver: Please feel free to review! It tends to encourage me to keep going (though I will keep writing without it).


	2. Chapter 2

Trading Places

 _ **A/N: I had to remind myself that Harry doesn't know the incantation to Fiendfyre…so of course he got creative. In this story, Horcruxes are able to draw on the magic around them, including that of the House of Black. They aren't as strong as if worn by people.**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Primark or any other things you recognize (aside from Leila).

Chapter 2

Kreacher had been hesitant to listen to Harry at first. As far as the house elf was concerned, Harry was a dirty half-blood. It was when Harry reminded the mad elf about Regulus' last orders did the elf start to trust Harry. The elf entrusted the nasty locket to Harry, who hid it with the ring.

Kreacher still hated everyone else in the house, especially Sirius.

However, Harry had put the ring and locket on the desk in his room. Kraecher was using his magic to keep the other occupants from wondering into the room. Harry had cast his own anti-apparation ward to keep out the older folks. Dobby had been able to sneak into Hogwarts and retrieve the Sword of Gryffindor. He wasn't sure if this was the best idea he ever had, but he didn't have the incarnation for fiendfyre. Not to mention, Leila had reminded him in her letters that he could not control the flames.

Starting with the ring, Harry raised the sword. He was surprised when he hesitated, the stone glowed and the form of his mother appeared. "M-m-mum." He hadn't expected that.

"Oh Harry, what are you doing baby?" Lily Potter was bound to the area near the desk. "You look so young. You don't need that silly old sword." Her ghostly hand touched the sword. "I will be able to hold you if put this on."

Harry swallowed thickly, his mother was indeed beautiful and had died tragically young. "I-I'm sorry." He whispered as he bought the blade down on the ring. He wasn't sure what would happen, but the image of his mother gave an unearthly scream as the ring cracked. The stone slid out of it's mount and a black mist escaped the ring.

Closing his eyes, he had forgotten that some of the Horcruxes would have some type of defense. He also had never dealt with the ring. For a moment, he wondered if the ring had taken on the form of Dumbledore's sister and if that's why he put it on. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of banging on the door. Kreacher grunted but didn't release his hold on the door. "Dirty half-blood…"

"Harry! Harry are you alright? Why is the door locked?" Hermione's voice asked on the other side. Harry could hear footsteps moving away from the door as someone ran from the door. If he had to guess, he would assume Ginny or Ron.

"Just working on something!" He called back. His voice sounded exhausted.

Hermione knocked again, "But there was screaming!" Her fist pounded on the door and Harry could vaguely hear Mrs. Black screaming.

"And there will be more screaming in just a few minutes." Harry informed her through the door. He turned to the locket and whispered _open_ in parseltongue. Last time, Ron had destroyed the locket after seeing an image of Harry and Hermione together. Ron had been an insufferable git most of the trek because they lacked the comforts he was used too. Harry had briefly seen Hermione in that light, but she had made it clear that Ron and his actions with Lav-Lav effected her. So, Harry had swallowed his feelings and focused on his new potions text and lessons with Dumbledore.

Now, Harry was in the past facing the locket himself. He had barely touched it, but he wondered what it would show him. And he would have to destroy it quickly as the adults in the house, including Sirius, would be outside his door in a few minutes. The ghostly form of Leila and Theodore appeared. Leila thanked him for helping her pass the time while she wanted for Nott. She informed him that the only man she could ever love was someone on her intellectual level like Nott. "Half-blood! It's a nasty, nasty trick!" Kreacher cried out as he reinforced his barrier.

"I never fucking liked Nott to begin with." Harry muttered under his breath as he adjusted his grip on the sword and bought it down on the kissing couple. His heart felt constricted as he dropped the blade. "Dobby!" The locket gave out a scream as it broke in half.

"Good Master Harry Potter sir is summoning Dobby!"

Harry gestured weakly to the blade. "Put that back and…and then take me to Leila." Dobby snapped his fingers and disappeared with the blade. "Kreacher, the locket is destroyed. I can repair the damage later and it's yours to keep."

The house elf approached the broken locket. He couldn't feel any magic coming from it. Before Harry knew it, the elf was on the floor _crying_ mumbling about Master Regulus.

Dobby appeared as Harry stood up. He picked up the Resurrection Stone and and slid it into his pocket. Honestly, Harry wasn't up for any of that 'Master of Death' nonsense this time around. The door to his room finally opened in time for the panicked adults to see Harry look at them before disappearing with a house elf.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

When Harry landed, Leila was asleep on her living room couch. In front of her, he could see books littering the coffee table. It was midday, but the witch napped on oblivious to his appearance. "Thank you Dobby." The elf left quietly and Harry approached the sleeping woman. He eventually just pulled the blankets up to her shoulders.

"Harry." Her voice was soft and barely audible. Her eyes were cracked opened, but she closed them and pulled the blanket over her head.

Chuckling he slowly slid the blanket down. "Hello love."

"Harry?" Her voice sounded a little more alert before she rolled onto her back. "What are you doing here?"

Harry chuckled, "I got hasty in destroying the horcruxes. The locket it…" He paused before looking down at the hazel eyes studying him with worry. "It manifested as you and Nott." He watched as her face grew concerned. "I just needed to see you." He felt her hand touch his cheek. He lowered his face to hers, capturing her lips in a chaste kiss.

"I don't know what it said, but I'm happy we're together." Leila informed him softly after breaking the kiss. "I have no intentions of going to him."

His green eyes seemed to light up as they looked at the hazel ones beneath him. "I worry…"

"Just keep loving me the way that you do." Leila informed him. She smiled and pressed her lips to his. "I'll keep offering you my love and loyalty as well." Harry pulled the witch closer to him and deepened the kiss. They broke a part when she gently pulled away. "What happened with the other horcrux?"

"I destroyed them both. I didn't muffle my room, so naturally as I left half the Order was kicking my door down."

"That's not good." Leila commented as she slid her legs off the couch. She patted the warm cushions and Harry sat next to her. She leaned against him. "How are you going to explain what happened?"

Harry sighed, "I didn't think that far ahead."

"Coming here probably wasn't in your best interest either." Leila added, frowning. "They might think you're not trustworthy or something ridiculous." The blanket fell away revealing a light blue spaghetti strap shirt that hugged her chest tightly. "But…I _have_ missed you."

The wizard slid an arm around her. "I missed you as well." Harry pressed a kiss to her temple. "I didn't mean to wake you from your nap."

"I would have been disappointed to miss you." She admitted. "I reached out to Luna. We're supposed to hangout tomorrow. From the way you describe her, I think she'll be a good person for me to befriend."

Harry nodded, "Thank you. I can't wait to see her again. I'll approach her first this time."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Dobby had dropped Harry off in his room the next day. His Slytherin side had seen no reason to return promptly after that exit, there was no benefit. Besides, he spent time with Leila. The witch was digging into her own spellwork. She wasn't sure why the spell had transferred them into the past with no visible return date. Her work _was_ a ritual and magic did have it's own sentience. He found the Rune aspect to be interesting and the arithmetic had been surprisingly easy to follow after she explained the process. Math had been an easy subject for him in primary school and despite faking his test scores for the Dursleys' sake, his librarian had offered him harder math to work on. His primary teachers always seemed surprised to find him in the library doing harder math work.

"Harry James Potter!"

The Boy-Who-Lived dodged a blue spell, the body binding charm, thrown at him. His face became amused at his Godfather's anger. Sirius had apparently been in the room waiting for him. "Good morning Sirius!"

"Cheeky." He commented, his wand aimed at his godson. "Have you lost your mind? What were you doing in here yesterday? Albus looked panicked to see the broken trinkets on the desk."

Harry glanced over at the desk and noted that the ring and broken locket were gone. "I told Kreacher he could keep the locket."

"He hasn't taken it off." Sirius spit out. His grey eyes examined Harry. "In fact, he hasn't stopped mentioning my brother or you. And the little bastard actually started cleaning the house."

"Excellent! Now Mrs. Weasley can stop forcing me to help."

"Harry." Sirius voice was serious. "What has gotten into you this summer?"

Harry narrowed his eyes, Dumbledore could believe that he was possessed by Voldemort again. "I'm being proactive in life and, pardon my manners, but you should be proactive as well. The Head of the Black family on the run despite not having a trial? There's at least several laws broken on that principle alone."

Sirius lowered his wand a frowned at Harry, "Albus told me…"

"Yes, well the Headmaster isn't always right. You were an Auror. Go read a law book again, I imagine the Black Library has plenty of them." Harry cut his godfather off. He didn't want Sirius to get stuck in this house for almost a year and become reckless like he did the first time around. "You don't like it here, but if you use the resources…maybe you can find a way to force a proper trial for yourself."

Shaking his head, Sirius sighed. "Some things are beyond your understanding." He sat on the lone bed in the room and gestured for Harry to do the same. "Did you go to your girlfriend's house?"'

"Yes." Harry admitted, a soft blush appearing on his cheeks.

Sirius smiled at the admission. "How is she? I imagine you spent time with her after the dementor disaster."

"She's good. She's studying to be an Unspeakable. I sort of popped in on her while she was sleeping, but we made dinner and watched tv for a bit."

Nodding, Sirius put his wand away, "You know, if Voldemort finds out about her…"

"We know. She has a portkey to a safe house." Harry didn't know how likely she was to use it, but they both had one going to Potter Manor. He wanted to tell his Godfather not to use the name, but settled for flinching. He glanced nervously around the room expecting Death Eaters to appear. _The taboo isn't in place yet_ , he reminded himself.

Harry felt his arms and legs snap together as his godfather stood up. "My godson isn't afraid of Voldemort's name. So who are you?" Sirius asked with a growl. "And where is he?"

"I am Harry." He felt his godfather's wand press against his neck. "Your animagaus form is big black dog that other people mistake as a grim. We saw Pettigrew two years ago, but he escaped because of Remus transforming. You nearly killed Snape." Sirius froze, Harry shouldn't know anything about the time he almost killed Severus. "You kept banging his head against the ceiling of the underground tunnel as left the Shrieking Shack." Harry added, he couldn't admit that he knew about the incident with Remus.

Sirius' eyes narrowed in anger. "If my godson is _injured_ in anyway..."

"I am Harry."

"Harry would have no idea how to get a portkey. He can barely make floo calls."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Leila sat on the floor with her legs crossed. She was taking a break from her research to do a word search in _The Quibbler._ Harry had used the magazine to share his story the first time around. The witch wondered if perhaps, he should go that route this summer rather than in the fall. Then again, she didn't know much about his connection to Rita Skeeter, the original author of those pieces. "Dobby!"

The little house elf had shown up with a bound and cursed Harry.

Dropping her pen and magazine, she moved towards the couch. "Dobby, what happened?"

"Master Harry was in danger. He summoned Dobby to take him to safety." The elf started wringing his ears. "Dobby wants to help great Master Harry!"

The petite witch grabbed a nearby mahogany wand. "Finite!" Hazel eyes watched as the stiff body of her boyfriend, relaxed. He inhaled deeply as he forced his self up.

"I can't go back there." Harry's voice was firm. "Not unless I can explain how I know more about the methods of transportation via magic _and_ why I flinch at his name."

Leila didn't need to know _who_ he was talking about, she knew that a taboo had been placed on the Dark Lord's name. "Are you injured?"

"Dobby got me out _before_ Moody's suggestion of torture was agreed upon. They mentioned summoning Dumbledore to go through my mind if I didn't have any Occulmancy shields." Harry rubbed at his neck with a frown. "Dobby, can you retrieve my things? Send them to my room at the Manor."

Dobby sniffled at the story before nodding. "Dobby will not fail the Great Master Harry Potter sir!" And disappeared in a loud crack.

Leila shook her head, "Your elf is silly." She had never met an elf quite like him

"He used to belong to the Malfoys. He is a great elf."

Reaching out, Leila touched his thigh. "Harry, are you okay?"

"I almost started panicking. It reminded me of when Dumbledore died."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Albus, we have no idea where that elf took that imposter." Sirius informed him flatly. "He kept claiming to be my godson, but Harry doesn't fear Voldemort's name. That's what tipped me off."

Remus frowned beside Sirius. Unlike his friend, he was certain that the boy they let in was indeed Harry James Potter. Of course, Sirius didn't believe him when he mentioned that his nose couldn't be fooled.

Hermione was the last person in the room as well. Dumbledore sat in front of them, listening to Sirius patiently. The witch knew Harry the most and could perfectly articulate the deficiencies in his magical knowledge. She also happened to be the first to hear the screaming from his room. Dumbledore had examined the ring in private and was surprised to realize it had been a horcrux. Kreacher had been determined not to lose the Slytherin Locket that he had acquired, but Dumbledore had examined it. It had once housed a piece of human soul as well.

The Headmaster didn't know how Harry had come to find out about horcruxes, but it needed to be addressed. The old wizard understood Sirius' concern, but if Remus was correct…then Harry was hiding information. "Remus, you said that he had a girlfriend?"

"Yes, I noticed he left frequently to meet her at the edge of Surrey. Although, she did make the trip to his neighborhood a few times as well." The werewolf confirmed. "She's a year below him and in Ravenclaw."

Hermione frowned, but didn't say anything. That didn't sound like Cho Chang. Ron and herself had discovered Harry's crush on his fellow seeker. Of course, Cho had been dating Cedric Diggory. "Miss Granger, you seem puzzled."

The bushy haired witch nodded, "Harry had a crush on a Ravenclaw, but she is two years older than him."

"I think, we will not see young Harry again until his trial at the Ministry." Dumbledore informed the group. Sirius looked noticeably upset. Holding a hand up, the older wizard continued. "I believe, we _did_ have the real Harry until his capture by us. His behavior may have been questionable in regards to Voldemort's name, but Remus deserves credit. He would have known if Harry was an impostor. Alistor would have also noticed continued use of polyjuice potion if that was the method meant to infiltrate our Headquarters."

Sirius slammed his hands on the table. "Then why flinch at Voldemort's name? How did he acquire portkeys? The Weasleys made it clear that until last year, he didn't know about that method of transportation."

"If he is truly dating a Ravenclaw, there's no way that she would let those gaps stay in his knowledge." Remus reminded him. "Lily went out of her way to introduce us to muggle movies and music before they went into hiding."

Hermione nodded, "He might not understand the theory, but he could probably perform the magic if necessary. That's how Harry's always been."

"Albus, what were the trinkets on his desk?" Sirius asked without hesitation. "You used an older spell to determine what they were like before you repaired them."

Dumbledore's blue eyes dimmed slightly. "They were a theory of mine. Apparently, Harry knew about their existence and now I hope that after August 12th, I can speak with him about it."

"Does it have something to do with his connection with V-Voldemort?" Hermione asked. She almost stumbled over the name, but she wanted to be taken seriously. "He's been having more dreams since he came back to power. Though, since he's angry with us, he stopped writing them down."

"It might, Miss Granger." The Headmaster stood up. "He has undoubtedly headed to his girlfriend's home. I assume the house elf belongs to her family."

Albus had spent over twenty years looking into horcruxes, nothing had come up about living ones. There had been few references on the topic. By few, he meant almost none. Tom Riddle coming back to life at the end of the previous school year hadn't been anticipated. The old wizard had gotten confirmation two years ago that his former student had created the vile things. He had suspected the creation, but for years had no way to continue his search into the matter. Young Harry had arrived at Hogwarts and encountered the shade of Voldemort trying to steal the Philosopher's Stone, which confirmed his suspicion.

It also bought to light the matter of Harry's cursed scar. Hermione and Ron had both informed him that Harry mentioned the old wound hurting when around Quirinus. Even the previous year, the scar had been covered in dried blood. Although, he heard from Sirius that Harry had been seeing images that weren't part of his normal dreams. Albus suspected the scar was a link to the rest of Tom's soul. With the return of Tom to a body, there was a chance that the link would widen.

Albus Dumbledore would see Harry at his trial. For now, he would assume that the young wizard was hidden away and rely on Severus for information. His instincts were telling him to wait it out, and he would…while looking into other Hogwarts' Founder heirlooms.

Harry might have been using the link to his _benefit_.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Silver: Shorter than the previous chapter...but more coming soon. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 3

Harry didn't mind his situation. Sirius had been guarded in his letters. Ron and Hermione had asked for more information about his relationship with Leila. Hermione had expressed her surprise given his previous feelings for Cho. Ginny had slipped in one letter asking about his summer plans. The redhead was trying to be friendlier than she had the previous years, normally she was shy around him. The twins had mailed him a box of their products with an enchanted note that explained it's contents. Hedwig had been careful when she had delivered that package over breakfast.

Leila had gladly moved with him back into Potter Manor. She enjoyed the comforts of the muggle world, having a VHS player and cassette tapes to listen too was neat. However, being able to use her own wand freely was even better. The manor's location was considered un-plotable and therefore allowed Harry the freedom to go outside. The former Unspeakable would sit outside as he flew his Firebolt. She would often bring her work outside.

If anything, Harry thought that was his biggest complaint. She worked all the time. Leila was redoing all her calculations for errors. She was looking for a loophole or something that would explain when the spell would end- if it would end. Harry, didn't mind her research, but she didn't always remember to feed herself. She would try to find an excuse to work through the night. Harry never accepted them.

Their first week back in Potter Manor had gone well. Leila had relaxed enough to allow him to take her on broom rides. Leila had been shy at first, her grip had been tighter than he expected. Harry remembered chuckling as her grip reminded him of Hermione when they had ridden Buckbeak. Despite the occasional broom rides, he found himself forcing the witch into the kitchen for meals. Their house elves had prepared half their meals and Harry took care of the rest.

Leila and Luna were writing each other frequently since the day before his birthday. Harry wasn't sure if he could explain his desire to write the blond, he had never met her before the DA. His girlfriend encouraged him to wait patiently to reach out to the other Ravenclaw. "Leila, what if I grab the prophecy before _he_ gets it?"

"Why?" The witch asked as she tore a muffin into pieces. "Only you or the Dark Lord can retrieve it. You already know that, he apparently does not. Otherwise, he wouldn't be using a snake to explore the corridors of the Hall of the Prophecies." She shoved a piece into her mouth and continued pulling the muffin apart.

Harry shook his head, "But he does know that. He has to know because he led me directly to where the Prophecy was sitting."

"He more than likely didn't know until later this year. He didn't have a mole in the Department of Mysteries. Croaker might be senile, but he isn't stupid. The oath of our department makes swearing fealty to anyone else difficult. The oath doesn't have loopholes, you can't speak about certain things without protecting the confidentiality of our department. We can speak freely because you swore an oath to uphold the secrets we have, if you tried to tell anyone about my work...they would hear gibberish."

Green eyes darkened, "Are you any better than Dumbledore?"

"I'm not locking you in a house nor am I hiding things from you. I'm not saying you can't challenge the Dark Lord. I..." Leila paused, before sighing. "I thought you understood how oaths worked. They are verbal, magical contracts recognized by magic itself. Magic will sometimes cause someone to speak gibberish as a way to protect the person from breaking their oath. It only does that if it understands your intent when sharing the information. If it's malicious, you will be understood clear as day, but the effects might not be pleasant."

Harry sighed as he pulled his cup of orange juice towards himself. "Snape swore an oath to protect Malfoy."

"He killed Dumbledore right?" Leila questioned. "Depends on the wording of the oath, but magic could have forced him to take action." The dark skinned beauty stopped tearing at her muffin and slowly gather the pieces into something she could eat. "Draco is his godson. I don't imagine there's much he wouldn't do to protect him because of that alone."

Harry picked at his bowl of hot cereal. "Okay, and what about our oath?"

"It was a standard protection oath. You can't talk about our time travel or even the ritual." Leila had explained. "You could talk about the horcruxes or me as I currently am, but you wouldn't be able to reveal that I was an Unspeakable."

"I can't think of many people that would believe me if I tried talking about traveling three years into the past." Harry added with a slight chuckle. "I suppose you're better to work with than Dumbledore."

Leila rolled her eyes. "Insufferable."

"Do you think we should spend the night before the trial at your dad's place?"

The witch nodded, "We could floo from there."

"I thought about apparating actually." Harry informed her matter of factly. His lips were pulled back into a crooked smile with one corner twitching.

Throwing a piece of blueburry muffin at the wizard, Leila huffed. "You trying to get sent to Azkaban or worst, splinched?"

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Harry stepped out of the floo, just as Leila stepped out of a fireplace next to him. The wizard was dressed in black robes with the Potter Family Crest displayed prominently. Next to it was a slightly smaller Black Family Crest. The green-eyed teen hadn't bothered to much with his hair. As it got longer, it looked less like a bird's nest. His bangs covered his cursed scar, the hair touched the top of his thick rimmed black glasses. Leila had taken him to see an eye doctor, but he had insisted on keeping those frames.

Underneath the robes, he wore khaki slacks with a dark blue button down shirt. Dusting his shoulders off, Harry approached Leila. The witch wore a short sleeve, dark blue dress underneath a grey robe that had her family crest on the right breast. Her hair had been pulled back into a bun near the base of her neck. She brushed her robes off before meeting Harry part of the way.

Together they walked to the security desk. Harry handed his wand over and looked bored when the guard read back the length of use on it. Leila's wand had the same length of use as him, four years. Harry was surprised to see Leila's actual wand, since most of the summer she had used various wands belonging to her deceased relatives. Those wands had long ago lost the trace on them, which is why the witch had kept one around her as often as possible. The guard had them sign the check in sheet before he sent them up to Madam Bones' office.

Neither spoke as they stepped into the lift and took it upstairs with the older workers. The older adults sent them curious glances, but said nothing as they departed the lift. "Do you think someone will mention the change to us?" Leila asked quietly as they finally had the lift to themselves.

"They mentioned it to Mister Weasley last time," Harry informed her before checking his wrist watch. It was probably the only muggle device on his person. "We should head downstairs anyway." Leila nodded her agreement, but Harry read the nervousness on her. The witch pressed the button and changed their destination. Harry knew he wasn't the greatest at giving comfort or reading body language, but he reached out and grabbed her hand. "This will be fine. Dumbledore will show up, so if I royally screw up he'll save me."

Leila squeezed his hand, "Even though you aren't under his thumb?"

"He doesn't know how far out I am."

"That's comforting I suppose."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Harry, my boy." Albus Dumbledore greeted them. His twinkling blue eyes seemed to look just a little to the left of Harry's head. "Ah, I see you've bought Miss Brown with you as well." The witch squeezed Harry's hand under the older wizard's gaze. He offered her a warm smile and gestured for the two of them to enter the courtroom ahead of him.

Leila smiled shyly at the Headmaster, "Good morning, sir."

"Good morning, Headmaster." Harry greeted before gently pulling Leila into the courtroom with him. The witch looked around, amazed. The Boy-Who-Lived recognized a few faces in the crowd, but he wasn't surprised to see the Wizengamot summoned. A few of them had looked surprised to see him dressed so smartly, they had children at Hogwarts who probably mentioned the way he dressed. The wizards in plum watched as they entered the courtroom.

The Ravenclaw sat behind the chair on the right side of the courtroom. Leila watched as Harry released her hand and sat in the chair with chains. She frowned when the chains rattled. The witch didn't realize how much the Ministry wanted to intimidate him. "I see you received the notice about the change in time and location." Cornelius Fudge acknowledged as he walked passed Harry.

"Actually, Lei and I were curious as to what was down here since we arrived really early." Harry informed him casually. "We never received any notification." The Minister turned red faced as several members of the Wizenagamot started whispering when they heard Harry.

Minister Fudge nodded stiffly, "I'll speak to my secretaries about ensuring proper mailing."

"That sounds fantastic, but why are we in front of the Wizenagamot?" Harry asked, he winked at Leila. "According to the Decree for Underage Magic, cases like this only require the Department of Law Enforcement's head to speak with me."

Headmaster Dumbledore smiled as he also approached where Leila sat. "Mr. Potter does have a point, Minister." He linked his fingers and peered at the portly figure of the Minister. His blue robes were bright with stars twinkling.

An older woman rose, there was a gold badge on her plum robes. "The Wizenagamot is under the impression, that this trial is for more than a simple misdemeanor of underage magic."

"It is!" Minister Fudge protested.

The same older woman raised an eyebrow. "Minister, we are not a governing body meant to be used to intimidate adolescents."

Harry schooled his expression. This hadn't happened first time around. He decided to point out that no additional charges were filed. Before he could speak up, someone passed him and cleared their throat. His green eyes narrowed at the pink wearing witch. The toad looking woman sent him a glare, but smiled thinly at the Wizenagamot member.

" _Ahem, hem._ " Harry couldn't believe Umbridge was back in his presence. A well of anger surged through him. She wouldn't be rounding up muggleborns this time around. "Minister, I believe we should move to the bench and start with the proceedings. Lady Longbottom, I assure you everything will be cleared up in due time."

The woman frowned at Umbridge, but took a seat. Neville's gran looked displeased with that answer, but she was following decorum. Harry hadn't recognized her without her vulture hat. The Minister smiled gratefully at the toad woman. He sent Harry a resentful glare before following her to the bench.

Madam Bones sat to the left of the Minister's middle seat. Percy sat to the far right, transcribing the proceedings. His horned rimmed glasses were easily identifiable. Harry didn't know how to get the third Weasley's head out of his arse. Fred wasn't going to die this time around, so Percy would need a new reason to see the light. On the right side of the Minister, Umbridge and Marchbanks sat. The Head of Wizarding Examinations looked like she would prefer to be anywhere, but here.

Harry listened as the Minister called the court to order. The Minister barely kept himself contained before reaching the charges. He had summoned the Wizenagamot to determine if Harry was guilty of breaking the _Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery_ for using magic in front of a muggle. The sentence he wanted to implement was snapping of Harry's wand, expulsion from Hogwarts and erasing of his memories. The Wizenagamot exchanged looks at the charge and the possible sentence.

Leila clinched her fist at the charges, she had never heard of that type of sentencing for underage magic. Her hazel eyes looked warily at Harry, he seemed relaxed. She wondered if her boyfriend had a plan in mind. When Harry thought things through, he was Slytherin like in his planning. For years, Ron and Hermione had encouraged that behavior directly and indirectly, mores indirectly. After becoming an Auror in training and unraveling the illusion on his life, he started planning more. The Ravenclaw just hoped it was enough to save his butt.

Madam Bones frowned, but she said nothing as Madam Marchbank started asking Harry questions about the evening in question. Minister Fudge cut off the Department head to inform the court that Harry had performed the Patronus Charm in front of a muggle. The Wizenagamot started whispering amongst themselves. "Was it a corporal patronus?" One member asked. Harry saw Neville's gran glare at the man in question.

"Yes, it was." Harry answered from his seat. "The muggle in question was my cousin. We were attacked by dementors while walking home. As a member of my immediate family, he is exempt from the Statue of Secrecy. The charm, also falls under the category of acceptable defensive spells which has not been updated since the first war."

Several adults exchanged looks at the matter of fact statements. "Dementors?" The toad woman asked snidely. "They are under Ministry control and guard Azkaban, how would they end up in your neighborhood?" The Wizenagamot started talking amongst themselves again.

"Weasley, check the charters Mister Potter is referencing." The Minister ordered. Amelia Bones smirked slightly, but said nothing.

Harry leaned forward, "If they are controlled by the Ministry...perhaps someone sent them after me? I mean since I've informed you Voldemort has returned, you've lead an amazing smear campaign through the Daily Prophet." Minister Fudge turned bright read.

"You shouldn't tell lies." Madam Umbridge snapped.

"I didn't lie about anything, least of all about Voldemort or who I am." Harry smiled at the woman. "And for the court records, I am to be recognized as _Lord_ Potter. Being as though I was able to compete in a competition meant for adults last year, I was legally recognized as an adult by your Ministry. Adults can't be charged with underage magic."

"Weasley!" The Minister snapped, his face now pale.

Madam Bones clear her throat. "Lord Potter, do you have any proof about the Dementor attack?"

"I have the memory itself, which can be played for the court. I also have a witness currently present."

Leila smiled softly, Harry was using their own failings against them. She glanced over at the Headmaster. The wizard looked interested in the proceedings happening. Leila wondered if the Headmaster felt jilted.

Madam Bones nodded, "Your witness, Lord Potter?"

"That would be me." Leila confirmed when the eyes of the Wizenagamot landed on her.

The Minister looked pasty, but Madam Bones calmly spoke up. "Please state your name for the records."

"Leila Brown." The witch informed them confidently. She stood and approached the chair where Harry sat. She would pretend she was giving Croaker an update on her project. Her voice was calm and detached. The Wizenagamot wasn't speaking to Leila, instead Cricket had appeared.

Harry looked over at her. It was a subtle change in posture, but the woman he worked with had appeared. The witch, like himself, had trouble controlling her hormones and emotions. Occulmancy helped them separate their minds from their teenage moods. Cricket was a quietly confident woman, that had seen the horrors of War from Hogwarts. She saw her classmates tortured on whims. The radical separation of muggleborns from half and pure bloods. Theodore probably had been useful in that one aspect, he shielded her from that pain. Despite being a half-blood, she had been dating a pureblood.

The gathering of fifty witches and wizards, started questioning the woman about her presence that night. Leila answered each question with the facts needed. "If I may," the witch cut in. "Harry, his cousin and myself were attacked by two dementors. I saw them myself. I remember what they looked like because someone authorized their station at Hogwarts. I felt the cold deep in my chest. I started to become depressed and remember the worse things. I understand they are under Ministry control, I would implore all of you to drop these charges against Harry and open a proper investigation into the situation. If necessary, I can swear an oath that there were dementors present that evening."

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "that will not be necessary Miss Brown."

"And why are you interfering Dumbledore?" The Minister snapped.

"These students belong to Hogwarts. I am naturally inclined to defend them." His blue eyes twinkled. "Mister Weasley, what have you discovered about Lord Potter's claims?"

All eyes shifted to the redhead. Percy puffed out his chest. "They...they are accurate."

"What?" The Minister had paled slightly.

"In order to participate in the tournament, emancipation papers were generated and signed by _Sirius Black_!" The Wizenagamot fell into a hush. Harry and Leila also looked at the redhead in surprise. "Apparently, Mister...excuse me, _Lord_ Potter's guardianship had been listed underneath his godfather in accordance with his parents' will."

Dumbledore smiled slightly, "That makes sense given that Mister Black has been pending a trial since '81."

"What are you playing at Albus?" The Minister of Magic asked testily. The plum wearing members of the Wizenagamot looked entranced by the information being shared. "A man convicted of murder cannot sign legal documents while on the run!"

Albus Dumbledore nodded and offered the sweating man a solemn look. "That is correct, but Mister Black was not convicted by this judicial branch."

Amelia Bones brought the attention in the room back to herself. "I believe, that's a discussion to be had _after_ this trial."

"Weren't you and Barty Crouch responsible for his imprisonment?" Dolorous Umbridge asked stiffly.

"Madam Umbridge." Amelia warned, her eyes narrowed at the toad like woman.

Cornelius Fudge sat up straighter. He looked pale and defeated. "I call for a vote on the charges."

The Wizenagamot exchanged looks, "with all due respect Minister, we can't charge an adult with breaking underage sorcery laws." Lady Longbottom informed him. "By our own laws, he is legally an adult."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Harry and Leila relaxed on the couch. The adults turned teenagers looked at their school supply list. With OWL year starting over for Harry, he didn't look forward to the work load. After that farce of a trial, Harry had been released. More than half the Wizenagamot had voted to clear him and they also requested the trace be removed from his wand. Fudge had looked like he had swallowed a bag of Dumbledore's lemon drops. The revelations about Sirius required a more formal inquiry and as result Amelia had been assigned another task in regards to the last Black.

"That went well." Leila commented as she shuffled the parchment.

Harry nodded as he slid the parchment back in the envelope. "That was definitely different from the first time around." He looked thoughtful as his green eyes closed. "What are the chances that Sirius becomes a free man?"

"I'm not sure. The Ministry is still corrupt and with all the witnesses having been modified...it's a stacked deck."

"So, I should capture Wormtail?"

Leila frowned at the unfamiliar name. "If their capture helps with Sirius' case."

"I need to learn a few more spells in regards to animagus."

Leila nodded, "I only know a spell to ward them off while transformed."

"I need to keep him in either form. Preferably as a rat."

The witch tilted her head in thought. "We can see if the library here has anything." Harry stood up, Leila grabbed the back of the couch for balance and looked up alarmed. "Harry?"

"My apologies love." His sudden movement almost knocked the witch to the floor. "This is something I've thought about more often than you know. My father taught his friends, while learning himself, how to be animagus. There must be good reference books here." The wizard was pacing as he worked out the reason for his sudden desire.

"I can get our school books." Leila volunteered, she didn't think Harry would want to go outside. At least not without a plan to capture this Wormtail person.

Harry stopped pacing and looked at her, "Are there other Wizarding locations besides Diagon Alley and those one-off shops in South London?"

"Assuming you don't want to include Hogsmeade, the next big wizarding shopping district is in Paris."

"So we have to go to Diagon Alley?"

"Unless we get a portkey from the goblins."

Harry started pacing again. Leila watched with a soft frown, she wanted to know what he was thinking. "I don't want you shopping alone. I can't really show my face in Diagon Alley without being accosted at the moment." The evening _Prophet_ had splashed his emancipation over the front cover. The rag of a paper included mentions of Sirius' being his legal guardian all these years. The two of them had wondered how legal it was to mention such information. "Galleons are the currency across the EU?"

"Yes."

"Do you mind picking up a round trip portkey?" Harry finally asked. "I can pay for it."

Leila nodded, "When did you want to go?"

"Early next week. My family has a villa in the countryside we could occupy."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Sirius looked at the formal letter of inquiry that had arrived from the Ministry. Amelia Bones was requesting he turn himself in order to receive a proper trial. The Azkaban escapee took a swig of fire whiskey. He wore old clothes that, ironically, had once belong to his father. Dumbledore had thanked him for signing Harry's emancipation papers. The wizard had been surprised to hear those words. He had been drunk when those papers arrived. The previous year, he had been hiding out in some random wizard's home as he made a trek up to Hogwarts.

It had been a terribly rough day and the stranger had plenty of fire whiskey to share.

Even now, he wasn't sure how that hadn't been traced back to him.

He barely remembered the document and he definitely hadn't thought to inform Albus. The Headmaster had merely frowned when he had stumbled over an answer to the silent question of why he had signed it. Sirius didn't have any intentions of telling his godson that he was legally an adult. The convict had hoped to have his name clear by the time Harry learned about his status, or before he learned about it at all.

"Are you going to turn yourself in?" Remus asked. The werewolf sat across from him, he had a half full glass of fire whiskey. "It could be a trap."

"I know." He croaked. "But, I also don't know where my godson is. I couldn't even protect him like I should have."

Remus' amber eyes looked at his friend. "Harry left because _we_ almost hurt him."

"We don't know if that was Harry."

Shaking his head, Remus smiled softly, "it was him. He seemed older, probably anxious about what You-Know-Who is up too."

"He used to write me about..." Sirius paused and glanced around. "About his visions. He could see inside his head. Albus doesn't want to tell me what it means..."

"It's likely tied to the thing in the Ministry." Remus speculated. He swirled the liquid around the glass. "He's been responding to your letters?"

Sirius nodded, "he said he wouldn't be able to reach me for a week. He starts Hogwarts in two weeks, what is he up to?"

"Don't come up with any irrational plans." Remus warned before taking a sip of the warm liquor. "If you aren't going to turn yourself in, I don't recommend blowing your cover."

Sirius poured more fire whiskey and sighed. He wanted to see Harry again. Maybe even meet this girlfriend of his. Being trapped in his family home was the worst idea anyone could come up with. He could roam about as Snuffles again. There were no visible signs of him being an animagus. He didn't have glasses markings or weirdly specific birth marks that translated on to his dog form.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Fawkes trilled again in response to the Sorting Hat. The worn outwear, could feel a disturbance in the air. The phoenix seemed to agree with him. Magically, something or some things were out of place. "This year is going to be more interesting than anyone knows."

"What do you mean, my dear?" Albus Dumbledore asked as he walked into his office. He brushed off his purple robes and smiled at the Sorting Hat and Fawkes. The portraits of the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses woke up "startled" after their fake naps. No one was fooled by their antics.

Fawkes started preening his feathers. The Sorting Hat's tip pointed at the old wizard, "Someone has messed with powerful magic, even I can feel it and I'm not exactly sentient."

"That is interesting, especially with Tom's return." Albus removed his hat as he approached the desk. He sat the item on a shelf and examined the trinkets in his office. A few were tied to Harry and the blood wards on his home. "Miss Brown is dating young Harry." He informed the Sorting Hat.

"Weren't you predicting her dating Mr. Nott?" Minerva asked as she walked into the office.

"Indeed I did." He smiled at his Deputy Headmistress. "I wonder when they begin to interact? She knows where he lives and has spent most of the summer visiting."

The Head of Gryffindor frowned. "Is that safe given his return?"

"If _we_ didn't know, it's possible no one else knows. That will change in a fortnight."

"And the meeting with Amelia?" Minerva asked with slight concern. She would hate to hear that Harry had been punished for anything.

Albus sighed, "it's like I predicted. Cornelius attempted to have him expelled and memory erased under his new underage sorcery laws. The Minister summoned the entire Wizenagamot and changed the time of the hearing." His blue eyes noticed Minerva's lips thin in anger. "Harry and Miss Brown held their own against the Minister. His new underage sorcery laws, however, cannot be applied to an emancipated minor."

"Emancipated?" The Transfiguration Professor asked in a thick Scottish accent. Her anger was palpable.

"Apparently Sirius barely remembers signing the paperwork, but magic accepted it and it was filed properly. Harry also took up the mantel of Lord Potter. I didn't ask if he named a Regent yet."

"What was Mister Black thinking?"

"That he needed to protect Harry." Albus assumed. "He has always acted rashly as boys tend too."

The Deputy Headmistress looked at the older wizard in surprise, "He's too old to make such decisions without thinking."

"Indeed." Albus agreed as he started stroking Fawkes. "Despite the outcome, the Ministry will be assigning us a Defense Professor."

"An Auror?"

"Ah, Dolorous will be returning to Hogwarts after all these years."

Minerva's eyebrow went up, "She failed her Defense OWLs and never took it at the NEWT level. What kind of qualifications does she possibly have to substitute education? We are one of the top institutions in the world, we can't possibly accept such an offer."

"We don't have any other candidates." The Headmaster informed her sadly. "The curse on the job has affected the number of candidates qualified to teach it. The disparity goes back to the '70s after I turned Tom down for the role."

Minerva's lips thinned, not even changing classrooms had gotten rid of the curse. What object it had been tied too had never been discovered. "She's merely here to spy on us."

"Then, we must ensure she has nothing of worth to report."

"What of Mister Potter?"

"We can only treat him as we would any other student."

The stern witch nodded, she would protect him as much as she could. The Ministry would definitely try to attack him again. "Albus..."

"Dolorous will be their eyes and ears, we are not allowed to favor anyone." He peered at her over his half moon shaped glasses. "Not even Miss Granger."

Minerva McGonagall nodded stiffly as she worried about her school. Hogwarts was home and now she had to prepare a silent defense from outsiders. The Ministry had intentions to interfere in the school because of Harry and Albus. Especially, since they could not remove Harry.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Leila, Andromeda responded!" The wizard looked excited. The witch expressed surprise at being named Regent by a distant cousin. She asked him to confirm his decision. Harry looked over the paperwork sent back, it included formal documents granting her the ability to vote and introduce bills in his name. She also gained the voting bloc that belong to the Pervell and Gryffindor families. Apparently, those seats had been tied to the Potter Family, but were not merged under the Potter name.

Leila looked up from her book. Instead of researching her ritual, she was looking into animagus. Her hazel eyes looked at Harry with interest. "Sounds like good news?"

"She's willing to do it, I just have to confirm that I meant to reach out to her." Harry informed her. He was smiling, "She's a really cool woman. Sirius told me how she got kicked out of the Black Family."

"For marrying a muggleborn." Leila finished. "Is she really going to vote in your favor?"

Harry nodded, "I'm going to trust that she will vote thinking of Tonks, her daughter. She's a half blood, like me, and she can't even use the advantages that would come from being a member of the Black Family. I imagine, Andromeda also felt the same effects and would want to change that environment."

"Wizards aren't known for having logic, but I think I can understand relying on a mother's love." The witch smiled softly at him, "Not every mum is like Lily Potter."

"I can imagine that, at least she is?" Harry asked. "She's not as open as Mrs. Weasley, but she had her own kindness."

Leila closed the book on her lap and stood up. She walked over to the wizard that stood in the entrance way of office. They had arrived in France with little trouble, Leila's father hadn't checked on her yet. The witch had left a note that she was going to France with a friend to shop and that she would be back in a week. Harry had thought the note was exceptionally honest. Leila had shrugged his concern off, she didn't have to lie to her father. "I've never met her, but I will trust your judgment. You trusted me with your account keys and we only knew each other for a little over a month. By everyone's perspective, we literally just started talking this summer."

Harry looked at the witch. She touched his free hand. "I know you want your adorable godson back." Leila grabbed his hand, "that's not something we can change Harry. You can trust his grandmother, but we can't force Teddy into existence."

"I know, but if my votes were used to make things easier for half bloods, than perhaps..."

Leila bought his hand up to her lips and placed an innocent kiss on his knuckles. "We have time before his conception. Let's figure out how to get rid of Umbridge and capture Wormtail."

"Let me fill these out and then we can work on that." Hermione had been frustrated throughout the war, but she had held his hand. She had cried with him. She had helped him pay respect to his parents. Harry couldn't help, but think of the bushy haired witch when Leila comforted him. It didn't happen often and he recognized them as separate entities, but he wondered when she had learned about his engagement? Why had she taken off so suddenly with Ron?

The Ravenclaw squeezed his hand before she walked towards the glass door. "Let's get some fresh air." The French Villa as cozy and obviously a vacation getaway. There was a pool outside the glass door. To the left of the property were mountain ranges and a forest. The land around them was cozy and romantic like, which might have been the point given the obvious lack of quidditch goal posts. "You are starting to look a little sad..." Leila commented quietly.

"I...I just thought about Hermione and wondered when she betrayed my trust...especially after..." Harry trailed off, his eyes brighter than usual.

Leila tugged on his hand gently. "Are you sure she knew about the engagement? She could have just been pushing you towards Ginny since that was the last relationship you had been in."

"...I'm going to go for a fly." Harry pulled his hand away back and headed towards the stairs to grab his Firebolt. He would have to think it through.

Leila nodded, watching him go before heading outside. The French air was warm with a slight breeze. The two of them had done their school shopping the day before, it had been their first time in the Alley. The French natives had pretended not to speak English, especially after seeing Harry's scar. His victory in the Tri-Wizard Tournament hadn't endeared him to any of Beauxbatons' alumni. Despite that, Harry bought more robes and Wizarding outfits on Leila's orders. Leila had left the bookstore with a tall stack that had to be shrunk down.

Brushing off her black knee length shorts, Leila headed to the swing set. Someone had added a swinging couch to the patio furniture. For the millionth time, Leila wondered if they would succeed in defeating Voldemort. She had never seen the Dark Lord until that day he attacked Hogwarts. He had been inhuman looking. A shell of the man he used to be, his power was still the same. Matched only by Harry. Leila had never personally placed much stock in divination or prophecies, but Harry had been certain he was the only one capable of defeating Voldemort.

They had destroyed two horcruxes and were going to destroy Ravenclaw's diadem at the beginning of the school year. According to Harry, that left Voldemort's snake, Hufflepuff's Cup, Voldemort and Harry's scar. The Gryffindor Seeker had informed her that Hufflepuff's Cup was in Bellatrix's vault. Goblins weren't going to let them into the vault to take the object. However, if she remembered correctly, she could probably have the goblins investigate the vault. They might even have magicks capable of removing the soul piece.

The chair rocked slowly as she leaned back and closed her eyes. She couldn't imagine how Harry had managed to break into Gringotts to begin with, and survive. "Falling asleep?"

Cracking her eyes, she could see Harry in shorts and a tank top with his broom in hand. "Maybe." She responded with a small smile. "Go fly mister."

"Not going to join me?" He watched as her eyes opened all the way.

"Not right now, I'm enjoying the breeze."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

September 1st rolled around before the time travelers had really grasped it. The night before they had packed their trunks and headed to Leila's home. Her father's bedroom door had been closed, but aside from that there was no indication that he was home. Back in her apartment, Leila turned the tv on and pulled Harry down to the couch with her. They watched _Bewitched_ amused at the muggle interpretation of magic users. Harry had never seen the show before and Leila took the time to explain how Samantha didn't tell her husband she was a witch until after their marriage. Harry thought it was accurate to the current Statue on telling muggles.

Apparently they had stumbled across a marathon of the show. As it played, Leila ordered take out for them. Dobby had been disappointed that he couldn't cook for them. The little elf had cleaned her bedroom, changing the sheets and dusting in excitement at helping "the Great Harry Potter sir and his Brownie!"

Leila still didn't know how the elf had decided that was her nickname.

Leila had fallen asleep in front of the tv after dinner, Harry carefully picked the petite witch up and carried her to the bedroom. He had been surprised at how light she was, he wasn't sure if it was natural. The wizard was oblivious about a lot of things, but he had noticed her inability to eat a lot. Even when she cooked, she made average size portions and always had a small share. The one time he asked, she explained it as part of her current health problems. He watched her behavior looking for a sign of her other health problems. She merely waved him off.

September 1st, Leila woke up first. She had apparently started spooning Harry in her sleep. Her hazel eyes noticed the sweat on his forehead and frowned. Gently shaking him awake, his green eyes searched the room not seeing. His arm shot out to grab his glasses, "Harry."

"Lei?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." He sighed and closed his eyes, "He knows something is wrong. He was angry with Wormtail for failing to do something."

Leila felt fear cross her face. They had three horcruxes left not including Harry. "Is he still after the prophecy?"

"Yes. It doesn't have anything to do with his soul, something must be wrong in the Department of Mysteries." Harry speculated as he sat up. "His snake can't roam the corridors anymore for some reason."

"What?" Neither of them had done anything that would affect the Department of Mysteries. At least not that they had known. "Harry, we haven't interacted with anyone in that area."

Stretching, Harry pushed his frames on his face. "I don't know what happened, and neither does Tom."

The witch twisted the sheets between her hands nervously, before releasing them. "We should get ready to head to Kings Cross."

"Alright." Harry watched as Leila went through the closet before leaving with clothes in hand. He rubbed his face and slid back onto the mattress. Voldemort was changing tactics. It had been a possibility, especially since Snape had to report that Harry had escaped the Order's protection. Had Dumbledore told Snape about the horcruxes? Snape had apparently been Dumbledore's man all the way til the end. Even when he dueled McGonagall, he deflected her spells towards other Death Eaters to protect the students.

He hadn't told the witch that he had used the bond to see what Voldemort was plotting. Just quick glances at the beginning or end of his sleep. Leila would worry about that sudden shift so dangerously close to Voldemort. He would tell her about it later. Harry closed his eyes, he would see Hogwarts again and it would be whole. His friends would be happy and alive. Part of him, wished he was staying at Order Headquarters to be around his godfather. Sirius had written asking that he return to their protection.

"Har!" Leila called out as she brushed her teeth. "Up Mister." The witch wore blue jeans with mismatched socks. A long sleeve white button up was left undone as her green tee shirt peeked through.

Harry rolled over and chuckled. She looked cute glaring at him while brushing her teeth.

Two hours later and the couple had successfully ate breakfast, double checked their trunks and floo'd to Kings Cross Station. Well, the building near the station. They rolled their trunks across the street and loaded them on to a trolley with help. The Weasley Twins had appeared out of nowhere and were happily helping them. Leila seemed to become shy around the two senior students.

"So you're ickly Harrikins girlfriend." One of them greeted, Leila couldn't tell if it was Fred or George.

"Leave her alone Fred." Harry defend half-heartedly. "Is everyone else here?"

"They're on the platform now." Fred informed him, "we wanted to keep an eye out for you since we didn't have a chance to explain more about you-know-what."

Leila glanced at Harry, he looked amused. "Not everyone." A familiar voice quietly added. "Hello, Harry."

"Professor." Leila acknowledged as she turned around in surprise. Her former Defense Against Dark Arts teacher looked better than she remembered. Then again, her last memory of him was at his funeral. His wife had been buried next to him. Out of respect for him, she had attended the funeral, he was one of the best teachers to grace Hogwarts.

Remus smiled at the witch, "Miss Brown, as I tell Harry and his friends, I'm not your teacher anymore." She immediately noticed the big black dog on a leash. The werewolf wasn't surprised to see fear cross her face as she looked at the large dog. It's grey eyes looked at her and he started to approach her. Leila walked back and hid behind Harry. The wizard looked at his godfather in surprise.

"You bought Snuffles?" Harry asked curiously. He reached behind him and grabbed Leila's hand.

Remus chuckled, "he kept scratching at the door."

"Lei, Snuffles is harmless."

"He looks big enough to crush me in one leap." The witch retorted to the amusement of the wizards around her. Her hazel eyes studied the dog, cautious.

Harry bent down had patted his godfather. "Hold off a little longer on Madam Bones' request." He whispered to the grim like dog. His godfather growled and his tail wagged dangerously. "Calm down, Lei's afraid of dogs."

The black dog quieted down, but tilted his head towards Leila. Harry could almost imagine the letter he would get later.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Leila sat by herself in an empty compartment. Harry initially had been with her, but his friends had soon crowded the car. Ron had complained about her presence indirectly, before Hermione dragged him to the Prefect meeting. The Ravenclaw didn't mind Neville or Luna, but Ginny had started where her brother left off. Neville looked confused at Ginny's comments about space, Luna merely continued reading her magazine. Harry and Leila had initially joined the already present Luna.

The blond had her pink glasses with purple tinted swirl lenses on, reading the Quibbler upside down.

Harry had defended her presence, but Leila had merely smiled and pulled her trunk down. The witch ignored the complaint that her trunk had struck Ginny's foot. Instead, she leaned down and kissed Harry with passion. Her boyfriend's hand came up to cup her face.

"Ginny, you have snorkles around you." Luna commented as she slid her glasses up. The blond smiled at Harry and Leila.

Leila had pulled away and chuckling, left the compartment. Harry had been too dazed to follow her right away. The petite witch dragged her charmed trunk towards the middle of the train. She passed a car full of Slytherins in their fifth year. She lucked out after her fourth pick. Sighing, Leila glanced out the window, it would take most of the day to reach Hogwarts.

"Leila."

Hazel eyes turned from the passing scenery to the weedy, tall figure of Theodore Nott. He was an average looking wizard, but his intelligence had been intoxicating. "Theo." She had meant to say his full name, but it had caught in her throat.

His brown eyes were bright as they looked at her. "How was the rest of your summer? You didn't really mention what you were working on."

"Summer?" Leila repeated, she felt her heartbeat pick up. His voice was as calm and clear as she remembered, not quite as deep yet. "Summer was great, I went to France for a bit and just...I studied about animagus."

"May I come in?" The Slytherin asked as he slid his body into the car. Leila nodded, mutely. Theodore sat across from her, a smile on his face. "You look amazing. How was France? I've never been, Draco brags about it often. He still has relatives there."

"Thank you. It was amazing, the food is great and the views...the countryside is beautiful."

Theodore nodded, he wore his uniform pants and shirt underneath a plain black robe. "Why animagus? Are you thinking of becoming one? It's supposed to be a hard process."

"I...I was curious about what spells and potions already exist in regards to them."

"If you become one, you're expected to register with the Ministry." Theodore shared with her. He looked excited that she had studied such an interesting topic. "I spent some time looking over Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Specifically spell creation."

Leila ignored the feeling of deja vu. "Spell creation is dangerous."

"I know." His brown eyes were bright, she wasn't sure if he was aware of the Dark Lord's return. "But, I really thought about it and well...what if we had a way to change time? It's not easy and yes we have access to time turners through the Ministry...but what if we developed something better?"

"Better?"

Theodore nodded, he started talking again. "Well, the Ministry's Time Turners are restricted to 400 hours. Now what if there was a way to go back years without turning that many hours?"

"Are you thinking of developing something like that?"

"I want too. You're the only person I can think of that would understand me."

Leila looked at the younger version of her ex-boyfriend. This was the innocent version of the man that broke her heart. She had loved him and helped him, but in the end she wasn't as good as Daphne. Her morals didn't match his, that was the problem. He wanted to help dark families reclaim their glory. "I...I wonder if a ritual would be a better way to traverse time. If we assume it's a linear line, then I can't help but wonder if it's possible to go back."

"What if time will always progress forward, but if we are like a quaffle moving the opposite of where it's going; we could land somewhere."

"Wizards who meddle in time, usually muck things up." It wasn't first hand experience, but the change to the Department of Mysteries meant neither the Order or Voldemort were near the Hall of Prophecies. The witch wondered if something Harry and herself did disturbed the Unspeakables. Leila had made sure that Harry did not write a letter to Croaker, but her boyfriend had been clear that he didn't trust adults.

The door to the compartment slid open. Leila and Theodore looked up. The Slytherin's easy and open expression changed. "Leave Potter." It was a snide comment. "We definitely didn't call for Gryffindor stupidity."

Harry ignored the Slytherin and looked at Leila. She looked fine, if curious about his presence. "You didn't grab your bag that had lunch in it." He gestured to his backpack that was slung on one shoulder. "You didn't have to leave the other car."

"Theo, Harry and I...we're dating." Leila informed the confused Slytherin.

Theodore's brown eyes, darkened. "Since when have you even spoken to him?"

"If you're jealous Nott, you can leave. I'll stay with her. She packed an amazing lunch for us anyway."

The Slytherin didn't understand the curve ball thrown into his plans, "You were just agreeing to..."

"I can help you as a friend." Leila informed him, her tone was firm. "I feared you had a crush on me, but I didn't know how to let you down."

The Slytherin's fist clinched, "I don't…" He stood up, anger on his face.

"We didn't intend to tell you like this." Harry said kindly. "I just…don't like how close you both were when I walked in." Harry might not be as intellectual as Theodore, but he wasn't going to lose her to him.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Silver: Next chapter…we enter Hogwarts.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

Chapter 4

The school year was barely a week in and Harry was determined to get rid of Umbridge. The pink toad went out of her way to be rude to him. She looked for any reason to deduct points from him. He avoided an outburst in his first class with her. Instead, under Leila's advice, he approached Professors Flitwick and Snape about being an advisor to his defense club. Snape had a cover to maintain and turned him down flat.

Professor Flitwick had been intrigued by the idea, but asked more questions about his plans. Harry was proud of Leila, she took what Harry remembered of Hermione's list of spells and composed a thorough list. It had taken her a week to come up with a plan and outline for how the club would run and for how long. It didn't escape the Charms Master's notice that the list of spells got progressively harder. It was when he saw the Patrounus Charm, that he realized how serious Harry was about the club.

Professor Umbridge tried to undermine Harry's efforts, but Headmaster Dumbledore informed her kindly, that such clubs are permitted with an advisor. The old wizard watched from afar as he waited for the Ministry's next move. It was no secret to the staff that Umbridge was not actually teaching and that Harry's club could undermine her lessons. In fact, the staff had complaints from NEWT and OWL students about the way lessons were going. Some of them needed the grades for their career plans.

Harry was proud of his ability to post an advertisement for his new defense club in the halls and common rooms (with help from the faculty). When he arrived at lunch, he was amused to watch Umbridge tear down one of the fliers. Her face a lovely shade of pink. Harry had been careful to not have his club met on the same day as the choir club that Flitwick also advised. The Gryffindor knew that his claims about Voldemort's return was met with scorn. And he knew his classmates were too nosy to not show up to ask questions.

Flitwick had advised against any talk about the Dark Lord. The small man made it clear it was to avoid the club being labeled as more than that- a Defense Study Club. Harry understood better than he had the first time around, don't give her a reason to gain power.

"I'm proud of you Harry!" Hermione cheered him on, "are you sure you'll be able to manage this with our current work load?"

"It's twice a week. You'll be there, right?" He asked. Harry didn't know why it bothered him, but he hadn't worked out when she had betrayed him. If she had betrayed him.

The Golden Trio sat in the Gryffindor common room, Harry and Ron were playing gobblestones. This year, Harry preferred to hangout in the courtyard and library, places he could meet up with Leila easily. This evening, the witch had caught him in the hallway to say she would be staying in her tower after classes. It bothered him, but he asked Luna to keep an eye on her. The blond had agreed, slightly surprised that she was being trusted. "Mate, even if it is more work, we'll be there." Ron informed him.

"Harrikins!"

"Finally torn away from-"

"The love of his life!" The Weasley twins teased as they finally accosted Harry. The Man-Who-Conquered chuckled at their antics. The redheads were amused that Harry didn't seem bothered by their teasing.

"Lei's in her common room. She didn't feel well, but didn't want to go to the hospital wing." He narrowed his eyes, "You're saying I am around her too much?"

Fred chuckled while George answered, "Nah. We just haven't heard of you two being caught in a broom closet."

"And he really shouldn't be in one with her anyway!" Hermione retorted, slightly annoyed. Her brown eyes flashed. "Not every girl in this castle likes to end up in broom closets."

Ron's expression seemed to brighten as he started thinking about it. "We haven't caught them and if Malfoy does we'll hear about it for days." The redhead dropped his voice, "it's probably because of the map and cloak that he doesn't get caught."

Harry shook his head. "Lei and I really don't go into broom closets." Instead they found a lot more privacy in the Room of Requirement. Dobby had been helpful in removing the Sword of Gryffindor from the Headmaster's office so that the couple could destroy the diadem. Leila probably had felt ill afterwards destroying an heirloom of her house founder. The pieces were in a box in that lost and found room.

The horcruxes were down to the Cup, Nagini and himself. Leila hadn't taken that bit of information well, but Harry knew what to do. He had reclaimed two of the three Deathly Hallows. The cloak was already a family heirloom. The stone was in his trunk. Now, he just had to reclaim the wand...but he heard rumors that Dumbledore's wand didn't act the same. "We did come over to speak with you for a reason Harry." Fred informed him, "somewhere away from prying ears."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The first night of his Defense Club, Harry followed his instincts. The first time around the DA had saved lives. Neville, Luna and Ginny had restarted it in that awful year. The room had housed the abused half-bloods and children of the light side. As his green eyes looked at his peers, older and younger...he decided to start with the shield charm. There had been collective groans and one of the Hufflepuffs, Ernie, had raised his hand.

"Is there a problem with my instructions?" Harry asked the badger. The slightly taller male shook his head. "With the club objectives?"

"I think," Hermione interjected, "I think Ernie's question doesn't have anything to do with the club itself." The bushy haired witch ducked her head under Harry's glare.

Leila cleared her throat, "if you have a question related to last school year...this is not the place for it. We are a school organization meant to study together. We will not be-"

"Why not?" The Hufflepuff asked enraged. "We have a right to-"

"Leave this room for disrupting the meeting?" Harry finished. "You are not privy to anything that has nothing to do with you. I will not allow you to continue disrupting the rest of us because of your curiosity. If anyone else has the same curiosity, they can leave as well."

It was Blaise Zabini that spoke up, the Slytherin had been a surprising addition. "I think, it might be beneficial to actually study defense than to care about rumors." His brown eyes seemed to reflect mischief. Leila clinched her fist to keep from shivering under his glaze. Theodore, Daphne and Tracey were also present. The younger years of Slytherin were accompanied by the Fifth years.

Ernie opened his mouth to speak again, but Susan Bones stopped him. Hannah and Susan gave him a sharp look.

"Look, it might seem asinine to start with the shield charm. However, the best way to master a spell is to practice more than once." Harry paused for a moment before he examined the crowd again, "we have had inconsistent lessons for years and if we hope to be up to any kind of decent level, we need to master the basics."

An hour and a half later, Harry had demonstrated the spell and broken the students into pairs. It had taken a moment, but everyone seemed to learn quickly that Harry wasn't there to berate any of their attempts. By the end of the club meeting, more than half the upper years could produce a decent shield charm. The Man-Who-Conquered thought the addition of the Slytherins was a good idea. The younger years had come to defend Hogwarts against Death Eaters. While he didn't know about his year mates, they had seemed to split between neutral and the Death Eater status, this was a new chance.

At least, Leila had encouraged him to provide an olive branch to them. She knew more about the pureblood customs that he had missed out on the first time around. The Ravenclaw was determined to make sure that the Slytherins didn't feel targeted by Harry or herself. It was her pleading with Theodore that even got the group there. Harry had carefully rebuked Ron and other Gryffindors that tried to bully the Slytherins. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had paired amongst themselves where they could. Luna ended up partnered with Leila, who wanted to protect the blond.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Leila."

The witch paused in her quest to reach the library. She turned around, clutching a book tightly to her chest. The only tell of her nerves. "Hi Theodore." Her hazel eyes examined his lanky frame. He had loosened his tie and left his cloak somewhere, possibly in his dorm. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up to his elbows.

"I did what you asked."

The Ravenclaw nodded, "I know, thank you."

"You owe me." His brown eyes flashed with something as he stepped towards her. "Lei, what happened to us? Don't tell me you didn't return my feelings. I have letters that say otherwise. Is Potter blackmailing you? Or is it an arranged relationship? I can have my grandfather make a better offer."

Leila didn't speak for a moment. She didn't remember for sure what she had written over the summer. However, Theodore was seeking answers to questions she could not answer. "It's not blackmail or arranged. I really spent the summer with Harry and decided he would make a great boyfriend. Nothing happened to us, because I let us go."

"So, now you just use me to further his agenda?" Theodore asked quietly after a moment. She could see the tension in his frame. His hand flexed into a fist at his own question.

Leila frowned slightly, "You're brilliant. You listened to me, you bought some of your housemates to that meeting and you benefited from the lesson. That was entirely the agenda. There's no hidden plan against Slytherins or any other house. Harry genuinely wants everyone to pass their exams and be able to defend themselves." Silence fall between them. "Theodore, if my dating Harry is a problem...we can stop being friends."

"Only if you think that's necessary."

Leila raised an eyebrow, "You are up to something." There was no way she missed his body language. How often had she cowed to his temper? How often had she read the answers to her questions, her fears and hopes in that lanky frame? The micro expression, the tense frame and even now she read his silent resolve.

"You're hiding something." Theodore turned around, his hands in his pockets. "And I will discover it."

His footsteps echoed in the almost empty corridor. Leila watched his retreating back with curiosity, was he clever enough to realize she had traveled through time? Shaking her head, Leila continued towards the library. Theodore was very clever, but there was no way he would find the truth. In the future, he had been able to match wits with her when it came to spell creation. He even created a spell to identify magical signatures. It was highly improbable, that an OWL level Theodore would be able to match wits with her currently nor find out about the time travel. She still didn't know how the spell had worked. Dumbledore had a better chance strictly because of his age, but he was keeping Harry at a distance.

Clutching her book tighter, Leila paused beside one of the armored statues. "What are we doing?" Theodore wanted to investigate her relationship with Harry. The entirety of Hogwarts did honestly, the two had never spoken as far as these students were concerned. Cho Chang had attempted to hex her from behind on more than one occasion since September 1st. The Ravenclaw had been able to defend herself and her things because as an Unspeakable, she knew more than a senior Hogwarts student upset about her boyfriend's death. As far as she knew the Asian witch hadn't approached Harry yet, rumors of their relationship had made rounds on the Hogwarts Express.

Sure, they had decided to change things, but they were messing with a lot of variables. "Lei?"

Her name had been said with only the first syllable. "Lav?"

Hazel eyes looked into bright brown eyes. Lavender Brown was only a little taller than her cousin, but she had a petite frame and slightly darker complexion. The Gryffindor's brown hair was swept up in a high ponytail with a red and gold headband visible. "I was about to meet up with Parvati for dinner. Are you alright?"

"You're talking to me?" Leila asked quietly. The cousins weren't particularly close despite the close age gap. Their fathers got along, but Leila's father never really participated in family events. After a while, her aunt stopped sending them invites (she had sent a howler after the death of Leila's grandmother).

Lavender rolled her eyes, "You're dating Harry Potter, if it goes right we'll have a famous person in the family."

"Really, I should have known-"

"I'm joking, but are you okay? You looked sad and angry. I can read your tea leaves tonight. I've gotten really good at it." Lavender looked sincere in her request. She smiled lopsidedly at her cousin.

Leila laughed as she pushed herself off the wall. "You and I both know I hate divination."

"You and your dad." Lavender tilted her head as she looked at her cousin. "Is he...forcing you go along with his You-know-who has returned claims?"

The Ravenclaw stood up straighter, "No he hasn't. Lav, you don't believe him?"

"He's never really...spoke up. Ron and Hermione believe him, but they're also his only friends." Lavender frowned slightly, before nervously playing with one of the bracelets on her wrist. "We only know what the Prophet says."

"Harry isn't an attention seeking liar, but after five years of classes...no one here has figured that out?"

"He doesn't speak to anyone really! All we know are the things he got away with! Coming to school in a flying car? Being able to defeat dementors? Ending up in the tournament? You weren't here when he fought our Defense Professor in my first year! Not once did he get questioned by Aurors or expelled or..."

Leila gripped her book tighter than necessary in anger. "You think Harry James went searching for any of that stuff? A house elf used their magic to block the barrier. Harry sought out lessons to learn the Patronus Charm and he plans to teach everyone in our club. The tournament was rigged by Barty Crouch Jr, didn't you hear about the Death Eater that was kissed after the third task? Harry and I have talked about those instances, things outside his control forced his hand."

Lavender glared slightly at her cousin, there definitely had been rumors. "So Diggory was murdered by You-Know-Who and not something in the tournament?"

Neither girl could continue the conversation as they heard footsteps. A moment later, their current Defense Professor walked towards them. She looked at them in disdain, "What are you students doing? Dinner has started." The pink toad didn't truly look like she cared, but her eyes flashed with something dark as they landed on Leila. "And Miss Brown, Mr Potter is a liar. I wouldn't be bewitched by a troubled boy like him."

The cousins exchanged looks, "With all due respect Professor, Harry isn't the type to go around lying about serious matters." Leila politely objected. Lavender sent her a warning look that went unheeded."

"Detention for back talking a Professor." The pink toad informed the younger Brown. The plump woman pushed the doors open and made her way to the High Table. Lavender and Leila walked to the Gryffindor Table. Dean slid to the left making room for Harry's girlfriend. Lavender glanced at her cousin.

"I've heard rumors about her detentions." Lavender admitted as she sat across from her cousin. The other fifth years turned to the gossiping witch.

Leila rested her hand on Harry's thigh as she closed her eyes. She was irritated with Umbridge and Theodore. Harry's hand slid on top of hers and linked their fingers. "What's this about detention?" He asked quietly. Honestly, he wasn't sure if Lavender would actually answer him but Leila didn't look ready to speak yet.

"Lei's got detention with Umbridge."

The Man-Who-Conquered felt his blood run cold. "What?" His green looked at his girlfriend, searching for answers. "On what grounds?" He started slowly filling her plate with her favorites with one hand. Hermione had huffed when some of the mash potatoes fall back into the bowl. The bushy haired witch helped them quickly, she frowned at Leila's apparent lack of interest in the conversation or food.

"She was defending you. Umbridge said she was talking back." Lavender glanced worriedly at the quiet Ravenclaw eating with only one hand. "I've heard rumors that she uses torture in her detentions. Everyone's that spent time with her has gone to see Madam Pomphery afterwards."

Leila sighed, Harry had told her about the illegal blood quill. He had carefully not done anything to warrant detentions so far, but it was October. The worst of Harry's luck seemed to happen on Halloween which was a week away. Cricket had formulated a plan...well half a plan. She just need Professor McGonagall and Madam Bones to be present. Which she would arrange, after all Unspeakables had methods of directly communicating with certain members of the Ministry. It would be tricky with her time travel status not being known.

Even trickier with her code name not even existing.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Madam Bones sighed deeply as she looked at the parchment in front of her. Croaker didn't recognize the code name, but he confirmed that only DoM employees knew about the hidden mail address of the DMLE. The Department Head looked intrigued at the contents, but suggested that the woman investigate as requested. "No Unspeakable would reach out unless it was truly a dire situation. Your niece attends the school as well."

Burning the letter, she went and grabbed her grey cloak. Croaker had a point, Susan's wellbeing came before a lot of things.

In black cloaks, Kingsley and Tonks joined her. They made quite a pair and while she preferred them searching for Sirius Black, he had responded that he would appear after Pettigrew's capture. It was risky, but smart on his part. Even she knew the Minister would try to have him kissed on sight. After all, he might have been a low ranking official back then, but he had recorded and testified at a hearing that failed to question the accused. If he were mentally sound, she would've bought Alistor with her. After the previous year, she was wary of him, he seemed even more paranoid after being locked in a trunk for a year.

The two with her were the last of his trainees and while Tonks had balance problems, her disguising ability was top notch. She was also clever with a wand. Kingsley was smart on the other hand, wet behind the ears, but he could be Head Auror in the future. His talent with a wand was undeniably good.

Minerva McGonagall stood at the edge of the Headmaster's fireplace with a stern expression. She wasn't sure what the Ministry wanted from her, but she greeted a trio of people that had stepped through emerald flames. The witch in grey pulled her hood down to reveal Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. She felt a bit warmer, at least Amelia was similar to her- no nonsense. "What brings you here so late? And with me?"

Amelia frowned, "I was told you would be my contact here. The Unspeakable that summoned us was vague on why we were needed."

"We should head to my office, perhaps we will receive more information from there."

"Discretion is required for this task." A fifth voice informed them quietly. It was distorted per the usual for Unspeakables. The figure was noticeably shorter than the adults, but wore a grey cloak that looked similar to Amelia's own.

"Cricket?" Amelia confirmed. The figure's face was hidden by the darkness of the cloak's hood.

"Madam." The four adults exchanged looks, none of them had heard or noticed the person appear. The Headmaster's fireplace was in a large space adjacent to his desk, but there wasn't a place to hide. Kingsley and Tonks eyed the short wizard. The figure didn't drop their hood. "We should move quickly before the Headmaster realizes his invitation was a fraud."

Amelia held out a hand to keep the others from moving, "How do we know who you are?"

"I thought the Dark Lord wasn't back." Cricket commented lightly, the disguised voice distorting appropriately.

"Evil wizards, are evil, they don't always need a leader to make a move." Minerva stated in a matter of fact tone. "It's just easier to move in larger numbers."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Cricket might have lied to Harry about why there had been a change in the Department of Mysterious security. However, she had no intention of telling him about the stolen Time Turner and the Ministry wasn't going to openly hunt for it. Harry's story about rescuing his godfather had spurred her to action. The chain was tucked under her shirt and hidden by her grey cloak. It had taken two turns before she found herself hiding in the Headmaster's Office. It was a simple plan and while the four older adults didn't quite trust her, she only needed their power.

Umbridge had treated her detention the way she expected, with an illegal blood quill. The Unspeakable was merely reporting it to the Head of the DMLE who could not legally ignore it. Torture was not permitted in Hogwarts' bylaws. The fact it had been ignored the first time around spoke volumes about the game that Dumbledore played. Cricket had disillusioned herself as she walked the halls of the castle. McGonagall and Bones weren't convinced they should be going to look in at Umbridge's detentions.

Cricket watched from the doorway as Leila wrote lines, _I must not tell lies_. Originally, it had been etched into Harry's skin, but he was giving Umbridge no openings to punish him. Umbridge decided to make sure it would fit on his knuckles by testing it on Leila. Her past self winced as she continued her detention, but had made no sound of protest. Umbridge taunted her, attempting to draw out a reaction.

The door to her classroom opened and Cricket watched objectively as Umbridge's face went from cocky to horror. Horror that she had been caught. Her past self's eyes watered as she dropped the red quill. "Dolores, what sort of quill is Miss Brown using?" Minerva asked, her eyes dark and her lips thin. A thick Scottish accent had also appeared.

The toad like woman plastered on a false smile. "Minerva, Miss Brown is serving her detention." Amelia and the two Aurors with her dropped their own illusion charms.

Leila looked up at the Head of the DMLE. The older woman waved her wand and the red quill floated in front of them. "This is a blood quill which is illegal to be used outside of authorized situations. Detention in Hogwarts is not one of those situations." The older woman spelled it out for the toad.

"You're under arrest for torturing an underage child."

Madam Umbridge looked like she had swallowed something sour. Her mouth thinned as her nostrils flared. She drew in a breath, "I don't think you understand the situation." Her voice was sugary and fooled no one.

Kingsley had moved to Leila's desk and conjured a bandage. He wrapped her hand in thick bandages. Minerva strode over to the pair and placed a hand on the Ravenclaw's shoulder. "Miss Brown, you will be escorted to see Poppy. Afterwards, the Aurors will take a statement about your detention." The word was breathed out as if it were fragile. "From there, I will contact your parents. They may wish to press charges." The Deputy Headmistress felt rage in her as she glazed at the pink wearing witch. For, not one thing about this situation made sense, how could a Ministry employee even think of torturing children?

Finch might always talk about it, but the children's detentions with him always involved cleaning with no magic. He knew the rules, apparently better than a Ministry employee.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

"Leila, what the hell is this?" Harry asked, annoyed. He threw down The Daily Prophet on the empty table before the witch. Her right hand was clearly wrapped in white bandages as it laid on the parchment before her.

The brunette witch glanced up from her essay to the newspaper, "Looks like the Prophet to me."

Harry huffed, "Are you mad woman? You know what I mean!"

Leila looked at the parchment again. There was a picture of Umbridge being processed for booking. In sickly green letters there was a headline by Rita Skeeter demeaning the toad and the Ministry. "Harry James, I thought..."

"You thought you would make such an extreme change and not say anything?!" The witch's hazel eyes stared into blazing emerald eyes. Her face was suspiciously blank as if her thoughts were hidden behind a wall, they probably were if Harry had to guess. "You know Dumbledore will be looking for the Unspeakable that was in the school."

"An Unspeakable that technically does not exist."

"Someone will draw the conclusion."

"Wizards are not known for logic, Harry." Her eyes were a shade of grey with brown flicks in them. "This is hopefully for the better."

Harry clinched his fist. "How did you pull this off?" It was a question that had bothered him since he read the article. Majority of the details were supposed to be classified, but it was clear that Rita had slipped somewhere she shouldn't have to get more details. The fact an Unspeakable was identified as being the one to summon the Head of the DMLE was important. It placed a spot light on the Department of Mysterious and the community was quite interested in who protected their children. Of course, the Head of that Department refused to give out any identifying information. The student rescued had been kept confidential, so naturally every student in Hogwarts knew it was Leila that was in detention that night.

The Gryffindor had his own suspicion on how she pulled it off. If so, she had lied to him for over a month and...

"Honestly?" Leila sat her quill down and looked up at the taller male. Harry was short for his age, but he was still taller than the woman across from him. She looked him dead in the eye, her face blank. "I used a Time Turner that I stole from the Department over the summer."

It was hard to swallow for a moment, "You did what?"

"By stealing the Time Turner, I seemed to have caused changes in the Department's security. A change for the better as neither Dumbledore or the Dark Lord are able to get near the prophecy now."

Harry closed his eyes, "you're changing to much. The knowledge we have will be useless at the rate you're going."

"I'm changing too much? Who destroyed three horcruxes over the summer and got chased out of the Order Headquarters?"

"Bloody hell." The Gryffindor slumped into a chair across from her. "Is this what we've become?"

The tension between the two of them disappeared as quietly as it had appeared. "We both have the same objective Harry. We're just going about it differently. You've got your headstrong, direct approach and I...I'm trying to work from the background."

"Let's work together love." Harry suggested. "No more secrets." Leila held his glaze and nodded. "You still have the time turner?"

"Of course. I carry it on my person." She informed him. "I placed a few ruins that make it slightly impossible to summon it off my person."

"There's going to be a trial and possibly some damaging fallout from this."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Silver: A quick update! I'll see if I can get another one soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: This chapter is a little short, but I'm also part of the way through with the next chapter.

Chapter 5

Hogwarts found itself without a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at the start of the next week. Professor Dumbledore had stepped in to lead the classes. The older wizard didn't seem bothered by the magic-less curriculum left behind by Umbridge. Instead, he spent the week teaching the students the spells they were supposed to read about, it was amazing. The energy during lunch and dinner as the students talked about their lessons with the Headmaster was infectious.

Albus smiled when he saw the student body talking excitedly about his lessons. He knew that realistically, he couldn't teach the rest of the semester. His responsibilities to the school and greater Wizarding Community were too important. It had been years since he had taught a class, much less the entire school. "They absolutely love your lessons." Professor Sprout complimented him during the staff meeting Friday evening.

"They haven't paid attention in many of my lessons." Severus concurred. He had privately asked to take over the Defense classes, but had been rebuffed once again. He had turned up his intimidation factor forcing the dunderheads to pay attention or get detention. The Head of Slytherin didn't think he was the only teacher to move to those tactics.

Albus nodded, a smile and grandfather persona on his face. "I am delighted to know my lessons have been met with such excitement. However, I cannot continue to teach those lessons until the semester ends." The teachers were quiet, they didn't expect the Headmaster to keep going indefinitely. He held too many titles and was stretched then on a normal day. "For now, I have arranged for an Auror to take over the courses temporarily. Madam Bones was kind enough to loan us, Auror Shacklebolt."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Harry tried to focus on running his Defense Club and preparing for OWLs. He had swallowed the frustration he felt at Leila's secret. The witch had changed the Department of Mysteries' security, she had changed the school year by removing Umbridge. It wasn't done half-heartedly, the Minister was scrambling to find a plausible reason for his Undersecretary to be torturing school children. Rita Skeeter was dragging Fudge and Umbridge through the mud in the Prophet. Hermione had arranged for the blond reporter to meet him in Hogsmeade to get an exclusive interview about last June.

Leila had been jealous that he was listening to Hermione. The Gryffindor found himself hiding his own feelings. She was jealous that Hermione could still boss him around, but he was irrational for getting jealous when she studied with Nott. Suddenly, he was supposed to be okay with all of her decisions.

A nearby vase in the room exploded. Leila looked up from the research she had been doing, looking into time runes again. "Harry?" Her eyes held a little warmth, but not the same amount he was used too. "Harry, was that your magic?"

"Yes." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He really considered getting a haircut next time he went to Hogsmeade.

The witch glanced at the vase, before fixing it with a quiet repair charm. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do you feel any remorse for hiding that Time Turner from me? For executing an entire plan without me?" Harry asked frankly. "I've told you about all the people in my life that have hid things from me. I told you the consequences of those actions and I expected you to do better." He didn't care that she flinched at the truth. "We were supposed to be in this together. And I tried to see it your way, but for the life of me...I don't know what I did to deserve that from you of all people."

Leila winced and looked down at the notes in front of her. "It was impulsive and I was ashamed that I let my own emotions get the better of me, I'm sorry." Part of her felt relieved to admit that part, "I couldn't tell you the truth because I was scared, I literally stole something from my old job. And despite that, I wanted to get rid of that witch so that she could never hurt you or those muggleborns again. You were taking care of the horcruxes without me, I just...I just wanted to protect you."

"Without you?" Harry retorted, "You knew where they were! I told you my plans, I might have faced them alone, but you always knew what I was going to do."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Theodore was surprised when he came across an upset Leila in the kitchens. The witch ate her bowl of strawberries quietly, he watched as she rubbed her face. Her nose was pink and he could see the tear stains on her face. He was going to curse Harry bloody Potter. The prat had to be the only one to make the witch cry. Theodore walked over to the witch and slid an arm around her shoulder. Her hazel eyes looked up at him, before she buried her face in his chest, fresh tears escaping her eyes.

"Lei," His voice was steady and soothing as he rubbed her back. "Did Potter do this?"

Leila made a small sound, but didn't answer.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Sirius was surprised to read the rant filled letter from his godson. Harry had been extremely moody all summer according to the Order members that guarded him. Yet, Harry's letter was filled with rants about not knowing how to trust his girlfriend again after she broke his trust. It made no sense to him as Harry didn't say what she explicitly did. The escaped convict let out a bark like laughter at the letter. "Oh Harry James."

He went and filled his glass with more firewhiskey as he tried to compose a reply for his godson. The boy was like Lily more than James. Harry hadn't indicated why he thought Sirius should wait to turn himself in. Nor did he mention how he knew about the summons from Madam Bones. November had rolled in like a firecracker after Umbridge had been arrested in Hogwarts. Her arrest had been all over the profit and at some point, Rita Skeeter had started dragging everyone around the overgrown pink toad wearing witch down.

"Sirius," Remus Lupin called out as he stepped into the office his best friend was occupying. Not many members of the Order came near the office that once belonged to Sirius' father. "I'll be leaving in a few days. I should be back in time for Christmas."

Amber eyes watched as Sirius drunk the amber colored liquid in his glass. "It's not safe for you be talking to them."

"Dumbledore wants me to try."

"He also sent Hagrid to talk with the giants. It really is not a good idea." Sirius didn't think the half-giant would be able to communicate successfully with other giants. He wasn't as thick as the other giants. And despite his ancestry, Hagrid didn't know the way giants communicated with each other. It was an admirable plan to get the giants on the side of the Order, it was also impossible.

Remus sighed deeply, he was used to this argument with Sirius. They had discussed it several times over the last week. "You should definitely worry about that summons mate, it could be a shot at freedom."

"Harry wants me to hold off."

The scarred wizard nodded as he leaned against the door frame, "We don't even know how he knows about the summons."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Hermione Granger was happy to have her parents back with their memories in tact. The bushy haired woman looked properly chastised by her mother as they talked in Australia. Ronald Weasley sat outside on the beach looking bored. Hermione hadn't allowed him to come in, afraid he would interrupted her work. Reversing her work had taken time. Her father was a little taller than her, but he had hugged her just as tightly as her mother had done. Neither Granger parent had approved of being forced to Australia for their safety.

"What are you planning to do now?" The witch asked her parents.

They exchanged looks, "It's safe for us to come home?" Her mother asked.

"Yes, Harry defeated the evil Wizard a few weeks ago."

"What about that boy outside?" Her father asked, Hermione blushed causing him to raise an eyebrow.

Taking a breath, Hermione smiled shyly at her father,"Ron is one of my best friends."

"Where's the other one? Harry?" Her mother asked. She remembered the smaller wizard in baggy clothes. Her daughter never explained why his clothing looked that way.

"Ron said he didn't want to come and so I came down here to locate you all with just him." Saying that out loud gave Hermione pause, why hadn't she asked Harry personally? Ron had this habit when of lying when he wanted something to go his way. Hermione had ignored the way the redhead had treated this trip to find her parents as a vacation. "Your practice is still around, I hired a few more dentists to look after things while you were away. Beatrice just knows that you've been gone on an extended holiday."

"That explains where the money has been coming from." Her mother muttered to herself. "I don't suppose we can fly out of here like normal people?"

"I didn't bring my passport, so I will be portkeying back with Ron, but I can meet you at the practice? The house keys are there."

The Grangers exchanged looks, "You've thought this through, sweetie."

Hermione nodded, she was happy. For a long week as her parents packed up and prepared to leave, Hermione found herself staring into the ocean. Life seemed so much better now that the war was over. Wizards down their treated Ron and herself like old friends. The Ministry there had warned them about using their magic too openly, but otherwise the pair were allowed to relax. A large brown owl landed in front of her and stuck out his talon. Taking the parchment, Hermione apologized for not having a snack. The owl hooted annoyed, but took off again.

"Ron, Harry's missing!"

Andromeda Tonks had written her, asking if she had seen the godfather of her grandson. Harry had been last seen at the Ministry a few days ago.

"What?" The normally pale redhead was slightly red as he had forgotten to wear sunscreen more than once while on the beach. "Whatta ya mean he's missing? He was doing some Auror training when we left."

"What if Death Eaters got him?" Hermione asked worried. She bit her lip. The last thing she had really done was encourage him to talk to Ginny. Part of her wasn't sure why she had done that, but it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

"We'll be home tomorrow and we can ask around."

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Hermione was often called the most brilliant witch of her year. She had worked hard to achieve that status among her peers. It was strange, but as she set foot into Britain again, she could feel as if something was off. It wasn't until she arrived at the Burrow that she figured out what was wrong, the pictures she had from 5th and 6th year were different - there was an extra person.

And then Sirius Black had made a floo call looking for her.

Hermione knew it was 1998 and that Sirius had died in 1996. Terrible things happen to wizards who meddle in time. Her own words echoed back to her. Hermione closed her eyes, Harry couldn't change the past.

He didn't know how.

The brunette haired witch raced to the Ministry of Magic, the last known location of her best friend. Harry James Potter had to be within those walls somewhere. The pit in her stomach told her the truth, Harry was somewhere he shouldn't be - the past.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Silver: A short update, I think you all know what's about to happen next...but let's see if I can still surprise you in the end. :)


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